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THE MIDDLETON BOWL 


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Frontispiece. 

“She was quite certain that she recognized that short 
scarlet skirt.” 


The Middleton Bowl 


BY 

ELLEN DOUGLAS DELAND 


With Illustrations by 
CURTIS WAGER-SMITH 



PHILADELPHIA 

HEXRY ALTEMUS COMPANY 





LiBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

NOV 20 1905 

Copyrtfftit Entry 

/vr/i 

CLA5V XXC. No. 

/ X S d t 1 

COPY B. 


Copyright,- -1905, 
By Henry Altemus 





CONTENTS 


A Tomboy 

A Cruel Blow 


CHAPTER I 


CHAPTER H 


CHAPTER HI 


Still a Mystery 

CHAPTER IV 

An Errand of Mercy 

CHAPTER V 
A Night, Adventure .... 

CHAPTER VI 

.Al Welcome Letter .... 


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ILLUSTRATIONS 


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“ Theodora watched her for a moment in silence ” 65 ^ 

“Miss Melissa nearly fainted with horror” . .117^ 

“ Miss Thomasine stepped inside and looked 

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THE MIDDLETON BOWL 







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- A1 



The Middleton Bowl 


CHAPTER I 

A TOMBOY 

U T T is shocking — positively shock- 

1 ing ! ” 

The five Misses Middleton crowded 
about the window, if ladies so punctili- 
ous, so precise, so ceremonious as were 
the five Misses Middleton could be said 
to crowd. 

^‘See her now, running as fast as any 
one of those boys,’’ said Miss Middleton 
the eldest. 

And without her hat!” said Miss Jo- 
anna, settling her spectacles. 

‘‘And her hair streaming!” added 
13 


The Middleton Bowl 


Miss Dorcas, as she clutched her knit- 
ting-needles. 

^‘And — and — I hardly like to say it, 
but, my dear sisters, do you notice how 
she — well, how she thrusts out her 
feet?” murmured Miss Melissa, with a 
look of embarrassment. 

‘ ^ But how happy she looks ! ’ ’ said Miss 
Thomasine, though in so low a voice that 
it almost seemed as if she must be hop- 
ing that her sisters would not hear her. 
But they did, and immediately they 
turned upon her in a body. 

^‘Thomasine, I am astonished! In the 
first place, you cannot possibly tell 
whether she looks happy or not, and in 
the second place — ” But no one ever 
heard what came in the second place, for 
Miss Middleton’s sentence was broken 
short by an exclamation of added horror 
from her four sisters. 


14 


The Middleton Bowl 


^‘Oli, she has fallen down!’’ 

A profound silence while they all 
looked. 

‘‘There, she is up again! Oh, my dear 
sisters, she is going to start again! 
What shall we do with her, and why did 
this come upon us?” 

The four elder Misses Middleton sank 
again into their chairs. Miss Thomasine 
remained at the window until the sub- 
ject of their remarks had disappeared 
among the trees at the farther end of 
the lawn. Then she too resumed her 
seat. 

‘ ‘ Something must be done, ’ ’ said Miss 
Joanna, for at least the eleventh time 
that morning. 

The five Misses Middleton lived in Al- 
den, in a large old-fashioned house on 
the outskirts of the town. Here their 
grandfather had bought an extensive 
15 


The Middleton Bowl 


tract of land and had built a stately man- 
sion in the days when rooms were made 
of spacious breadth and depth and ceil- 
ings were lofty. The town at that time 
was busy and bustling enough. A large 
number of the inhabitants were seafar- 
ing men, and not only commanded their 
ships, but owned them too, and foreign 
vessels touching at the port brought 
much stir of life and commerce, now long 
since passed away. 

Old Captain Middleton sailed many a 
voyage in his own good ships, and 
brought home not only plenty of money, 
but treasures from China, Japan, and 
even from India. Among other things 
there was a quaintly shaped ^^ellow 
porcelain bowl decorated with odd Ori- 
ental colors, which was made in China. 
It was not large, but its texture and 
workmanship were exquisite, and it was 
16 


The Middleton Bowl 


said that there was no other like it in 
America. In fact, there was but one 
other in the world, and that was in the 
possession of a rich mandarin of Pe- 
king. This bowl had been presented by 
old Captain Middleton to his daughter- 
in-law upon his son’s marriage, and it 
now belonged to their five daughters. It 
was always to remain in the family, and 
it was known as the Middleton bowl. 

Times had changed in Alden, as the 
saying is, and it was no longer a com- 
mercial town, but a sleepy, slow-going 
place as far as business was concerned. 
Its present inhabitants, however, most 
of whose ancestors had lived there for 
generations, endeavored to keep up the 
modern life and thought. There were 
reading-clubs and intellectual societies 
of all sorts for the serious-minded, and 
balls, assemblies, and teas for the more 

2 — The Middleton Botvl. 17 


The Middleton Bowl 


frivolous, but the five Misses Middleton 
were beyond it all. Behind the massive 
stone walls which surrounded their 
grandfather’s acres, now their own, they 
lived in seclusion, as remote from outside 
life and outside ideas as though they 
dwelt in some lonely castle in an en- 
chanted wood. 

To be sure, they had frequent callers, 
for they were greatly respected by their 
fellow townspeople, and these calls were 
returned after the proper interval of 
time had elapsed. 

On such occasions the old barouche 
drawn by the stout bays and driven by 
old John, the coachman, was ordered, 
and three of the ladies went forth in 
state and in their best camel ’s-hair 
shawls. Miss Thomasine was always 
the third, for she, being the youngest, did 
not object to driving with her back to the 
18 


Tlie Middleton Bowl 


horses. They followed now precisely 
the same rules of life which they had fol- 
lowed forty years ago, and change of any 
kind was displeasing to them. 

Into this quiet household of five maid- 
en ladies was suddenly precipitated a 
twelve-year-old niece. Their only 
brother, Theodore by name, who was 
very much younger than themselves, had 
early in life left the quiet old home in 
Alden and gone to one of the large cit- 
ies, where he married and became a 
prosperous business man. Circum- 
stances now obliged him to go to South 
America for six or eight months, and 
rather than subject their only daughter, 
Theodora, to the dangers of the climate, 
Mr. and Mrs. Middleton had asked her 
aunts to take charge of her until their 
return. 

The five aunts were somewhat aghast ‘ 

19 


The Middleton Bowl 


at this proposition. Since Miss Thom- 
asine had given np her dolls and packed 
them tenderly away in the attic many, 
many years ago, childhood was un- 
known to them, for Theodora’s home 
was far away, and she had never visited 
them before. 

However, it was a girl — a boy would 
have been absolutely impossible — and 
next to Theodore she was their nearest 
of kin. And Mrs. Middleton herself had 
suggested a means of relief should her 
daughter prove to be too much care for 
them. 

‘Mf you grow tired of her, or if she 
gives you any trouble, send her to board- 
ing-school. She will be happy at Miss 
Ford’s, where I went, and I have made 
every arrangement for her to go if she 
should be too much for you. But I am 


20 


The Middleton Bo^Yl 


sure no one could grow tired of my 
Teddy!’’ 

At first all went well. The aunts felt 
so sorry for poor little Theodora when 
she was left for the first time in her life 
without her parents that they vied with 
one another in their efforts to make her 
happy. Miss Thomasine unpacked her 
dolls and carried them carefully down- 
stairs, smelling strongly of camphor, and 
seeming to blink their round, unseeing 
black eyes in the unaccustomed glare of 
day. 

But Theodora only looked at them 
with a languid curiosity, spoke of their 
being so ^Munny and old-fashioned,” 
and then sneezed from the fumes of the 
camphor, and turned away. 

Miss Joanna unlocked the corner cup- 
board and brought out her own china 
tea-set, unplayed with now these fifty 
21 


The Middleton Bowl 


years. But Theodora almost laughed at 
the clumsy shape of the sugar-bowl, and 
then accidentally broke it, upon which 
Miss Joanna locked them all up again 
with an air which showed that Theodora 
had handled them for the last time. 

Miss Melissa then produced some 
books, which her niece seized upon with 
avidity. But she soon declared that she 
did not care for that kind of story (they 
were some of Miss Edgeworth’s tales) ; 
that Eosamond was a perfect goose to 
think the purple vase was worth having. 
She, Theodora, would have known better 
the moment she saw it. She would have 
discovered at once that it was filled with 
a purple powder, and was really nothing 
but plain glass. 

Had not her aunts any boys’ stories? 
She liked them best. Upon which the 
five Misses Middleton looked at one 


22 


The Middleton Bowl 


another, and mentally held up their 
hands in horror and dismay. And soon, 
all too soon, was it discovered that the 
only things which really made Theodora 
happy were boys and boys’ games and 
boys’ books. 

Miss Middleton herself, in the solemn 
conclave which took place upon the 
morning when this story opens, was 
courageous enough to put the matter 
into words. 

verily believe,” said she, ^Mhat our 
niece Theodora is what is called a — a 
tomboy ! ’ ’ 

Sister!” cried they all, while four 
pairs of hands were uplifted and then 
dropped into four silk laps; and Miss 
^liddleton, having made this statement, 
looked distinctly relieved. 

^‘And the worst of it,” said Miss Jo- 
anna, ‘ ' is that T strongly suspect we have 
23 


The Middleton Bowl 


brought it upon ourselves. In order to 
save ourselves the trouble of providing 
entertainment for Theodora, we actually 
suggested — one of us did — that she 
should be allowed to play with the Hoyt 
children. ’ ’ 

Here she glanced severely at her sis- 
ter Dorcas. Miss Dorcas made no re- 
ply, but she looked guilty, and dropped 
a stitch in her knitting. 

‘‘Dorcas forgot that they were all 
boys, I have no doubt,” said Miss 
Thomasine, in her gentle voice. “We 
knew Ellen Hoyt when she was young, 
Joanna, you remember. As gentle a 
girl as ever lived.” 

“Yes,” replied Miss Dorcas, her cour- 
age returning when she found that she 
had a champion. “It was natural that 
we should suppose her children should 
be quiet and gentle too. I am sure T 
24 


The Middleton Bowl 


never dreamed that they were all boys. ’ ’ 

‘^It has been most disastrous/’ contin- 
ued Miss Joanna. 

‘^But there is one resource left/’ sug- 
gested Miss Melissa. ^‘You know, sis- 
ters, what Theodore’s wife said — she 
spoke of it herself — I am sure we should 
never have thought of it.” 

Miss Melissa had a vague, hurried 
manner which never failed to irritate her 
sister Joanna, who was brisk, and in 
other conditions of life would have been 
businesslike. 

^Mf you mean the boarding-school 
plan, Melissa,” she said, ^^why do you 
not say so in plain words? For my part, 
I think it would be the best place for the 
child. ’ ’ 

‘‘Not if we can help it,” pleaded Miss 
Thomasine. “She is our niece, you 


25 


The Middleton Bo^vl 


know, and I do not like the idea of clos- 
ing our doors against her/’ 

“Thomasine, you are so extreme in 
your language,” said Miss Middleton. 
‘M am sure no one dreams of closing 
our doors against Theodora ; but if we 
cannot control her, I quite agree with 
Joanna that it would be the best place 
for her.” 

It was just at this x>oint in the con- 
versation that a startling clamor was 
heard from down-stairs. The ladies 
were sitting in the spare chamber” on 
the second floor, as they were apt to do 
of a morning. The noise drew nearer. 
It was unmistakably a cry of mingled 
wrath and pain, and it was accompanied 
by the sound of hurrying feet. Chil- 
dren’s shoes were scuffling up the old 
oak staircase. It sounded as if at least 


26 


Tlie MidcUetoii Bowl 


a dozen pairs of feet were hurrying 
toward the five Misses Middleton. 

The door opened with a burst, and into 
the room came Theodora. Blood was 
streaming from her nose, tears from her 
eyes, and in her arms she carried — was 
it! could it be! The five Misses Middle- 
ton looked, and looked again. Their 
niece was bringing into their presence 
a dead kitten! She was accompanied by 
two of her friends, the Hoyt boys, but 
they, dismayed by the sight of a circle 
of five ladies, retreated into the hall, and 
peered through the crack of the half- 
open door. Still another was at the foot 
of the stairs, not daring to come up 
higher. 

‘‘Theodora, what is it!” cried Miss 
Middleton, while Miss Melissa shuddered 
and felt for her smelling-salts. She was 
afraid of cats, even of dead ones. 

27 


The Middleton Bowl 


“It ’s a dear little kitten, Aunt Ada- 
line, and it is dead. It will never 
breathe again. Oli, that horrible boy, 
that Andy Morse ! I wish I had killed him 
dead ! But I gave him a black eye, I know 
I did.’^ 

‘ ‘ A black eye ! Theodora, I insist upon 
knowing the cause of this uproar. And 
the blood! Have you been hurtT^ 

“Let me wash it away from your 
face,” said Miss Thomasine; “but first, 
if it ’s possible, Theodora, I think you 
had better get rid of that — that cat.” 

“Poor little kitten! we are going to 
have a nice funeral to make up to it for 
all its sufferings. And I am not really 
much hurt, Aunt Tom. It ’s a nose- 
bleed, so it looks as if I were. The boy 
punched me right in the nose. But I 
kicked and scratched him well, I can tell 
you.” 


28 


Tlie Middleton Bowl 


The five aunts rose to their feet as 
one woman. They looked at Theodora, 
and then they looked at one another. 
Finally tliey all sat down again. 

^^Give that animal to those boys in the 
hall to take away, and then give an ac- 
count of yourself,^’ commanded Miss 
Middleton. 

Theodora hesitated for a moment, and 
then she retired to the hall, where she 
held a whispered conference with her 
waiting friends. 

‘ ‘ As nice a box as you can find, ’ ’ were 
her last words, ^^and loads of flowers. 
Dig it pretty deep. I ’ll be there as soon 
as I can.” 

Again there was the sound of clatter- 
ing shoes upon the stairs, and Theodora 
returned to her aunts. A maid was sent 
for, and the marks of her recent con- 
flict were washed away, to which pro- 
29 


The Middleton Bowl 


ceedings she submitted quietly, and then 
in a clean white apron she came back 
once more. She closed the door into the 
hall at her aunts’ request, and opened 
the conversation at once. 

’ll tell you how it was,” she said. 
‘‘You see, I was playing ‘I spy’ with the 
Hoyts, having the best time you ever 
heard of ; and do you know, I can run as 
fast as Arthur and Clem, and almost as 
fast as Eay! We were playing the kind 
of ‘I spy’ where you have to hide, and 
then run in to goal when It is not look- 
ing. Did you ever play that way. Aunt 
Tom?” 

“No,” murmured Miss Thomasine. 

“Do not stop for such questions,” said 
Miss Middleton; “and do not address 
your aunt so disrespectfully.” 

“Why, I did n’t mean to be disrespect- 
ful, Aunt Adaline. I call her that be- 
30 


The Middleton Bowl 


cause I love her, and I asked her last 
night, when she came to kiss me good- 
night, if I might call her ‘Aunt Tom,’ 
and if she would please call me ‘Teddy’ 
instead of hateful long Theodora, and 
she said I might, and she would. Of 
course I shouldn’t dream of calling you 
‘Aunt Ad,’ or Aunt Joanna ‘Aunt Jo,’ 
hut Aunt Tom is different. She seems 
younger, and as if she might be sort of 
jolly if you would only let her, so that 
is the reason I asked her if she ever 
played that kind of ‘I spy.’ Of course 
I don’t suppose the rest of you ever 
played ‘I spy’ at all.” 

And she looked about upon the group 
with some scorn. Teddy spoke very 
rapidly, so this speech did not consume 
much time. 

“No, we never did,” replied Miss Mid- 


31 


The Middleton Bowl 


dleton, ‘^and now we should be glad to 
hear tire remainder of your story. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ Oh yes, I ’m going to tell you. I got 
away from, the others somehow, and I 
thought I ’d reach goal by a shorter way 
if I climbed the stone wall and went by 
the road a little way.’’ 

‘^Theodora !” 

^ ^ What, Aunt J oanna ? ” 

^‘Surely you did not climb the stone 
wall?” 

‘AVhy, yes; it is as easy as anything! 
I ’m sure you could yourself. Aunt Jo- 
anna, just in that place. You put your 
foot right on a stone that juts out, and 
if I were there to give you a boost, you 
would go over as easy as anything.” 

‘^Oh, my dear niece!” cried Miss 
Melissa ; do hope, I really do hope 
that your aunt Joanna — She could not 
I am sure — ” 


32 


The Middleton Bowl 


Melissa,’^ exclaimed her sister, 
you think over the matter for a moment 
you Tvdll realize that no power on earth 
could tempt me to climb the stone wall/"’ 
hoped not, but — ” 

Awed by a wrathful glance from be- 
hind Miss Joanna’s spectacles. Miss 
Melissa subsided, and again sniffed her 
salts. 

Again I must ask you to continue,” 
said Miss Middleton to her niece. 
suppose you fell, which caused your nose 
to bleed!” 

^^No I didn’t. I didn’t fall at all. 
But who do you suppose I found in the 
road! That horrible Andy Morse! You 
know he is a great big fellow — ^bigger 
than Bay Hoyt. You ’ve seen him 
about, probably. And he was throwing 
stones at that poor dear kitten.” Theo- 
dora’s eyes grew big, and her words 

3 — The Middleton Bowl. 


The Middleton Bowl 


came more slowly now, and with great 
emphasis. ‘^He had it tied to a stump, 
and he was throwing stones at it, and the 
last one, just as I came up, killed the 
kitten.’’ She paused and looked about 
for sympathy. suppose you all feel 
just as I did,” she said, presently. ^^As 
if your throats were all choked up, and 
you couldn’t speak, and your hearts 
were going to fly right out of your bod- 
ies, and your heads were going to burst. 
That is the way I felt, and I am sure 
you would have done just as I did. I 
walked right up to that boy, and before 
he even knew I was there, I kicked him 
and scratched him, and banged my fist 
right in his eye. ^ There, Andy Morse,’ 
I said, ‘that’s what you get for stoning 
a kitten! How do you like that?’ And he 
hanged hack, and that ’s what made my 
nose bleed. Then he ran off as hard as 


34 


Tlie Middleton Bowl 


lie could. Great coward!” she added 
contemptuously. Think of stoning a 
kitten and being driven off by a girl! 
If there were not a connnandment about 
killing people, I should really be almost 
sorry I hadn’t killed him. Why isn’t 
it just as wicked to kill a cat as to kill a 
bad boy, Aunt Adalinel” 

— I really cannot answer such a 
question, Theodora. You do not realize 
what you are saying, I am sure. But 
you have done very wrong. I scarcely 
know how to express my feelings at such 
conduct. I beg you will not do so again. 
It was most unladylike, to say the least.” 

‘‘But he was hurting that poor kitten. 
Aunt Adaline! How could I help it? 
Don’t you think I did right. Aunt Tom?” 
she asked, turning in despair to her fa- 
vorite aunt. 

Miss Thomasine hesitated beneath the 

35 


The Middleton Bowl 


glare of eight sisterly eyes while they 
awaited her reply. Theodora hoped for 
support^ but she was disappointed. 

‘‘No, Teddy, I do not think you did 
right,’’ said her aunt. “The boy was 
very cruel, I admit, and I do not won- 
der at your indignation; but it was not 
for you to inflict pain upon a fellow- 
creature. I think you were as cruel to 
the boy as he was to the cat. Besides, 
it was not the proper thing for a lady 
to do. Would ymur mother do such a 
thing?” 

Theodora was silent for a moment. 
“I don’t suppose she would,” she said, 
presently; “and perhaps I ought not to 
have attacked Andy Morse the way I 
did. I am not sorry yet about it, 
though, but perhaps T will be by to-night. 
I will tell you if T am. And now may T 


Tlie Middleton Bowl 


go! They are waiting for me to have 
the funeral.’’ 

^‘My dear Theodora, what do you 
mean!” exclaimed Miss Middleton. 

‘‘AYhy, you know what a funeral is, 
Aunt Adaline, don’t you! We are going 
to give the kitten a pleasant funeral to 
make up for its sad death.” 

‘‘Do you think they ought!” asked 
Miss Middleton, looking helplessly about 
upon her companions. 

“Tt sounds very shocking, and I for 
one do not approve,” said Miss Joanna, 
with her customary decision. 

“I do not like the idea,” murmured 
Miss Dorcas. 

“Tt seems — really, it seems — as if 
something ought to be done — to correct. 
But I do not know — ” faltered Miss 
^Melissa. 

“Suppose I go with her to the place 

37 


The Middleton Bowl 


and see what they intend to do/^ sug- 
gested Miss Thomasine. 

sister!’’ said Miss Middleton. 
^Mt will ease my mind greatly if you 
will. ’ ’ 

So Miss Thomasine went to her room, 
and with much deliberation dressed her- 
self for a walk in the garden with her 
niece. She put on her head a large sun- 
hat drawn down on both sides with a 
broad white ribbon. This ribbon she 
crossed beneath her chin and tied on top 
of the hat, which was unadorned with 
other trimming. She placed upon her 
shoulders a black silk mantilla, and drew 
on her brown thread gloves, the fingers 
of which were very long and remained 
empty at the tips. Then she took her 
sunshade and descended the stairs, call- 
ing to her niece as she went. 

The door of the great drawing-room 

38 


The Middleton Bowl 


was slowly opened, and Theodora came 
out. Her face was much flushed, and she 
held one hand concealed beneath her 
apron. Together they walked out the 
side door and down the gravelled path 
to the garden. 

They had scarcely left the house be- 
fore Miss Joanna went down to the par- 
lor to attend to her task of dusting the 
foreign treasures. This was not in- 
trusted to the house-maids, for the five 
sisters did it each in turn. In a few mo- 
ments she returned to the spare chamber 
and carefully closed the door behind her. 

‘‘Sisters,’’ she exclaimed, “look at 
this!” 

She held up for their inspection a 
small piece of yellow Chinese porcelain. 

“This,” said she, “is all that is left of 
the Middleton bowl.” 


39 


CHAPTER II 


A CRUEL BLOW 


HILE Miss Joanna Middleton 



was imparting the news of her 


startling discovery to her sisters in the 
house, Teddy and her aunt Thoinasine 
were walking as swiftly as possible 
toward the lower end of the garden. 
Theodora’s face betrayed that she was 
greatly excited, and she held her aunt’s 
hand tightly, and almost dragged her 
along in her haste to get there. 

^^My dear Teddy,” said Miss Thom- 
asine at length, while she fairly gasped 
for breath, am not accustomed to 
walking so fast. I — I really must stop 
for a moment.” 


40 


The Middleton Bowl 


‘‘Oh, do excuse me, Aunt Tom! 1 never 
tliougiit. You see, I am so used to run- 
ning. ’ ’ 

They stopped, and stood facing each 
other for a moment. “What have you 
under your apron?” asked Miss Thom- 
asine. 

Theodora ’s face grew redder still, and 
she cast down her eyes. This was un- 
usual, for the child had a frank, fearless 
habit of fixing her brown eyes upon those 
of the person to whom she was speaking, 
which was very winning. Her face had 
a way of showing every emotion which 
she might be feeling, and her aunt saw 
at once that something was the matter. 

“Are you so troubled about the kit- 
ten, Teddy, ' my dear?” asked Miss 
Thomasine. “Do you begin to feel 
sorry that you fought the boy?” 

“I ’m not a bit sorry. Aunt Tom. 

41 


The Middleton Bowl 


1 ’m glad, glad, glad! But you needn’t 
look so disappointed; the sorry feeling 
may come later. It usually does after 
I Ve been naughty, but sometimes not 
for a good while. For instance, when 
I ’ve been naughty in the morning I very 
often don’t begin to feel sorry till toward 
sunset. I suppose I begin to think then 
of that verse in the Bible about not let- 
ting the sun go down on your wrath. So 
perhaps late in the afternoon I may be- 
gin to feel a little bit sorry about Andy 
Morse, though I don’t know. But are 
you rested yet. Aunt Tom? I do want to 
get to the funeral, but not unless you 
are quite ready,” she added, politely. 

^‘Suppose you take my other hand,” 
said Miss Thomasine, ^^and I will hold 
my sunshade in this one. ’ ’ 

For some reason this arrangement did 
not appear to please Theodora. How- 
42 


Tlie Middleton Bowl 


ever, she put both of her hands under 
her apron, and after a curious sound of 
the clatter of china, she produced her 
right hand and gave it to her aunt. 

^^What have you there, Teddy, my 
dear? What are you hiding under your 
apron? asked the gentle little lady. 

^‘Oh, nothing much, Aunt Tom. At 
least — that is — yes, there is something, 
but — well — I would rather not tell you 
what, it is, if you don’t mind.” 

Soon they turned a corner, and 
reached the spot where the six Hoyt boys 
were awaiting them. 

‘AVe thought you were never coming, 
Ted! What kept you so long?” shouted 
Paul, who was the eldest, and therefore 
master of ceremonies. Catching sight 
of Miss Thomasine, he stopped abruptly. 

^ ^ Are n T you going to have a funeral ? ’ ’ 


43 


Tlie Middleton Bowl 


lie asked. “We ’ve got everything 
ready. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ Oh, yes, we ’re going to have it, ’ ’ re- 
sponded she; “Aunt Tom came with me 
to see how we do it. I ’m sorry to have 
kept you waiting, but I really could not 
get here before; and now I must speak 
to Arthur a minute. You other boys 
just entertain Aunt Tom, please. She 
would like to rest. What a lovely grave, 
and what sweet flowers! Arthur, come 
here a minute.” 

They walked a short distance away, 
and then disappeared behind some cur- 
rant-bushes. The other boys appeared 
to be unequal to the task of entertaining 
Miss Thomasine, so a profound silence 
reigned, making plainly audible the mur- 
mur of Theodora’s voice. 

“Hurry up there,” said Paul impa- 
tiently. “If you want me to help with 
44 


The Middleton Bowl 


this funeral you must come quick. What 
are you talking about, anyway?” 

‘‘Never mind,” replied Teddy, run- 
ning into sight, followed by Arthur. 
“It ’s a secret, and you mustn’t ask.” 

Her aunt noticed that both hands were 
now visible, and that she carried nothing 
in them; but Miss Thomasine soon for- 
got that she had felt any curiosity in the 
matter, and turned her attention to the 
proceedings of these very remarkable 
children. She also forgot that she had 
been deputed by her sisters to stop these 
proceedings, and became wholly and at 
once an interested spectator. 

“We will start from here and walk once 
around the garden,” said Teddy, “and 
we will make quite a long procession, for 
there are so many of us. I wish we had 
some music. We might pretend that the 
poor dear kitten was a soldier.” 

45 


The Middleton Bowl 


‘‘So we will,” cried Clement. “I dl 
get my drum quicker than a wink.” 

Before he had finished speaking he 
was over the garden wall. 

‘ ‘ And get my trumpet, ’ ’ shouted Eay- 
mond. 

Presently Clem returned, and all was 
now ready. Upon the boys ’ express wag- 
on reposed a pasteboard box, in which 
had been placed the kitten, more honored 
in its death than in its short, unhappy 
life. Yellow daisies, asters, and golden- 
rod were heaped upon the cart in mag- 
nificent profusion, but the handle was 
draped in black. 

Arthur and Walter acted as horses, 
and subdued their natural speed to a 
funereal gait; Clem and Eaymond 
marched before, one beating his drum 
with measured rat-tat-tat, the other 
blowing long and melancholy wails upon 
46 


The Middleton Bow] 


his Fourtli-of- J uly horn. On either side 
the cart walked Paul and Charlie, while 
close behind came Theodora and her 
aunt Thomasine. 

‘^You will make a perfect chief 
mourner,” whispered Teddy, ‘Yor your 
hat is so black and so is your cape. I 
shall hold my handkerchief to my 
eyes, so.” 

‘‘But, my dear,” expostulated Miss 
Thomasine, “I really cannot. I do not 
approve. Eemember, it is only a kit^ 
ten. ’ ’ 

“Yes, yes, I do remember. That poor 
dead kitten! Please come, Aunt Tom! 
Don’t spoil it all, and try to look as sad 
as you can !” 

And before Miss Thomasine really 
knew it, the procession had begun to 
move and she was in it. Around the 
garden they walked, and finally returned 
47 


The Middleton Bowl 


to their starting-place, where the grave 
had been already dug. Paul and Char- 
lie attended to this part of the ceremo- 
nies, the musicians blew and beat a part- 
ing salute upon their instruments, Theo- 
dora mopped her dry eyes, and the 
horses, when all was over, relieved their 
feelings by running away. 

^‘Wasn’t it fun?’’ exclaimed Teddy, 
never did like anybody so much as 
you boys, and you do a funeral beauti- 
fully. Do you really have to go back 
now. Aunt Tom? I wish you could stay 
here and play with us. Charlie is going 
to let me try his bicycle, and I ’d like you 
to see me.” 

^‘Oh, my dear child,” cried Miss 
Thomasine. ‘Mt will never do in the 
world. You must not — indeed you must 
not! Tf you knew the feeling that your 
aunts and T have about bicycles.” 

48 


Tlie Middleton Bowl 


^‘But they are not dangerous, Aunt 
Tom. Indeed, lots of people ride them. ’ ’ 

‘‘It is not the danger so much as the — 
Well, my dear, you must never do it 
without asking your other aunts. A 
lady on a bicycle!’’ 

“But I ’m not a lady; I ’m only a 
child. Besides, lots of ladies ride them. 
I ’ve seen them in Alden over and over 
again. ’ ’ 

“It does not seem to me as if they 
can be real ladies. But come into the 
house and ask your aunt Adaline. I 
cannot take any more responsibility. I 
feel uncomfortable now about that fu- 
neral. I do not know what your other 
aunts will say.” 

“Oh dear!” grumbled Theodora; “it 
is such a bother to have to ask so many 
people what I can do. If it were just 
you, Aunt Tom, I shouldn’t mind, but 

4 — The Middleton BotvL AC) 


The Middleten Bcwl 


five are such a lot, and yon all think 
everything is so dreadful. T am sure 
mamma would let me ride a wheel.’’ 
Her aunt made no reply, and they walked 
toward the house. There, I suppose I 
ought not to have said that,” added 
Teddy, penitently, after a moment’s 
pause. ^Ht was disrespectful, I suppose. 
But oh, Aunt Tom, if you only won’t 
all say I can’t ride a wheel, it is all I 
ask!” 

They found the door standing open, 
and from the sound of voices it was evi- 
dent that some one was in the parlor, and 
immediately the parlor door was opened 
a crack, and at it appeared Miss Melissa, 
beckoning mysteriously to her sister. 

^ ^Cornel” she whispered. ^‘Thomas- 
ine, the — My dear sister be prepared! 
A cruel blow ! ’ ’ 

‘‘What do you mean, Melissa f” cried 


50 


The Middleton Bowl 


^liss Thomasine, her nerves quite un- 
strung by the performance in which she 
had so recently taken part, and also by 
her late altercation, if so it could be 
called, with her niece. 

''Come!’’ repeated Miss Melissa, and 
her sister went into the drawing-room, 
almost expecting to find that there had 
been a death in the family. 

Theodora ran up-stairs. "They have 
found it out ! They have found it out !” 
she thought, and flying to her room she 
closed and bolted the door. Ten minutes 
later her name was called from without. 

"Miss Theodora, are you there!” It 
was Mary Ann, one of the maids. Teddy 
did not speak nor move. 

"Miss Theodora,” said Mary Ann 
again, tapping at the door and rattling 
the handle as she spoke. ' ' I think, miss, 


51 


Tlie Middleton Bowl 


you had better let me iu. Your aunts 
want to speak to you.’’ 

Slowly Teddy rose from the bed, 
where she had flung herself, and reluct- 
antly opened the door. Her dark hair, 
which was cut short across her forehead 
and hung in a wavy mass behind, looked 
sadly dishevelled, and her face showed 
unmistakably that she had been crying. 
^ ‘ What do they want me for ? ’ ’ she asked. 

terrible thing has happened, 
miss,” replied Mary Ann, in an awed 
whisper; ^Hhe Middleton bowl is broke 
— the Middleton bowl as was worth hun- 
dreds of dollars, I ’ve heard tell, that 
folks has been cornin’ from all over the 
country to see ever since I ’ve lived here, 
and that ’s go in’ on fifteen years.” 

‘‘But why do they want me?” asked 
Theodora, showing no surprise when 
told of the calamity, as Mary Ann noted. 


The Middleton Bowl 


“Because, miss, somebody lias broke 
it, and as it ain’t one of the ladies tlieni- 
selves, it must have been either you or 
some of the help. So, miss, if ’t was you 
and you don’t tell it, some of us has 
got to suffer.” 

“Mary Ann,” said Teddy, stopping 
short at the stairs, “must I really go 
down? Can’t I run away? Won’t you 
help me to run away, Mary Ann? I ’ll 
give you something nice if you will.” 

“La, miss, don’t talk and look so wild ! 
A^ou just tell ’em you did it quite acci- 
dental, and they ’ll forgive you. The 
Miss Middletons is real ladies, and they 
wpn’t scold, but they’ll take it awful 
hard if you try to deceive ’em. Just tell 
’em you did it.” 

“I can’t possibly do that. Oh, Mary 
Ann, I wish I were in South America 
with my father and mother!” 

53 


The Middleton Bowl 


She had reached the parlor door by 
this time, and there she paused. Pres- 
ently, summoning all her courage, she 
pushed it open and entered. 

^‘Poor little miss!” said Mary Ann 
to herself. course she did it, and 

I hn real sorry for her.” 

And then she went off to the kitchen to 
tell the other frightened servants that 
there was no doubt as to who was guilty. 

The parlor was a very large room, and 
Venetian blinds at the seven long win- 
dows shut out the light of day as much 
as possible. Two of them, at one end 
of the room, had been drawn up this 
morning, however. As has been said, 
the parlor was furnished in old-fash- 
ioned mahogany. There were eight- 
legged tables, quaintly shaped shelves 
and cabinets, Chippendale chairs, and* 


54 


The Middleton Bowl 


even an ancient piano, made in the style 
of eighty years ago. 

The Misses Middleton were modern in 
one respect only; their drawing-room 
was filled with bric-a-brac. There were 
lacquered-ware tea-poys from Japan, 
and quaint idols from India, while rare 
old bits of china filled every available 
space. Near one of the windows stood 
a Chinese table. It was curiously 
carved, and the top was inlaid with bits 
of wood and ivory in the shapes of mys- 
terious Chinese sjunbols, and upon this 
table had always rested, in honor and 
apparent security, the famous Middle- 
ton bowl. 

The walls were lined with fine old 
paintings, and portraits from the hands 
of Sully, Stuart, and even of Sir Joshua 
Eeynolds and Gainsborough, looked 
down upon the five descendants of the 
55 


The Middleton Bowl 


ancient race of Middleton this Septem- 
ber morning when they sat, drawn up 
in battle array, to receive their niece. 

Slowly she walked into the room, and 
with downcast eyes and burning face she 
stood before her aunts. They were seat- 
ed in a semicircle, their backs turned 
toward the windows, where the shades 
had been raised ; therefore the light 
streamed full in the face of Theodora. 

‘^What have you to say for yourself, 
Theodora?” asked Miss Middleton, in 
an impressive voice. 

There was no reply. Miss Thomas'ine 
looked unhappy, and covered her face 
with her handkerchief, and Miss Melissa 
again made use of her salts. Miss Dor- 
cas began to knit nervously, but Miss 
Joanna stared straight at Theodora 
through her gold-rimmed spectacles. 

^‘Have you nothing to say, Theo- 

56 


The Middleton Bowl 


dora?” asked Miss Middleton, after a 
pause. 

Aunt Adaline.’^ 

^^You have not told her why she has 
been called, sister!’’ exclaimed Miss 
Thomasine. Perhaps she knows noth- 
ing about it.” 

‘Ms that probable after what you told 
us?” asked Miss Middleton, austerely. 
‘ ‘ However, I will humor you. Theodora, 
you have seen the Middleton bowl?” 

Involuntarily Teddy’s eyes turned to- 
ward the now empty Chinese table, and 
then were dropped again. 

“Yes, it stood there,” continued Miss 
Middleton, “and at ten o’clock this 
morning it was still there, for I saw it 
myself. At a quarter past eleven, when 
your aunt Joanna came down to dust 
the parlor, the Middleton bowl was gone 1 
Xot a trace of it left but this small piece 
57 


The Middleton Bo^Yl 


of china to show that it had been there.” 

Theodora glanced up again, and saw 
a triangular bit' of china, an inch or two 
long, which her aunt held in her hand and 
then laid upon the table. 

^‘You know the value of that bowl. 
You have been told that your great- 
grandfather brought it home, and that 
there is said to be but one like it in the 
world. Now that other is the only one. 
The Middleton bowl is no more.” 

She paused, and her sisters, more than 
one of them, sobbed audibly. Miss Mid- 
dleton, Miss Joanna, and Theodora her- 
self alone were dry-eyed. 

‘^Have you anything to say for your- 
self!” asked Miss Middleton, for the 
third time. 

And again Theodora replied, ^‘No, 
Aunt Adaline.” 

Miss Middleton’s foot moved impa- 
58 


The Middleton Bo^Yl 


tiently. “You must sav something, 
Tlieodora. In plain words, did you break 
tlie bowl?” There was no answer. “Very 
well. You would have saved yourself in 
our esteem if you had confessed at once 
that you broke it, and that it was an 
accident, as I suppose it was. We should 
have forgiven you, great as the loss is. 
Xow you are attempting to hide it. I 
am only thankful that you are not actu- 
ally denying the fact, but I suppose you 
realize that it would be useless. The 
evidence is too strong against you. ’ ' 

“What do you mean. Aunt Adaline?” 

“Your aunt Thomasine will explain.” 

“Oh, sister!” murmured Miss Thom- 
asine. “I almost wish 1 had not told 
you; but you took me so by surprise 
that the words came right out before I 
knew it. Poor little Teddy! I am sure 
she did not mean to break it.” 


59 


The Middleton Bowl 


‘‘I beg you will not call her by that 
ridiculous boy’s name, Tliomasine !” in- 
terrupted Miss Joanna. ^^And you are 
doing your best to encourage her to keep 
silence. I think you and sister Adaline 
are entirely too lenient. If I had my 
way, I should soon force her to confess. ’ ’ 

Teddy, who had almost cried while her 
aunt Tliomasine was speaking, now 
raised, her head and gazed defiantly at 
Miss Joanna. did not break the 

bowl,” she said, in a loud, clear voice. 

^^Oh, Theodora!” exclaimed the five 
aunts, in a chorus of dismay. 

did not break the bowl,” she re- 
peated. 

^‘But, my dear, the pieces which you 
carried under your apron to the gar- 
den?” murmured Miss Tliomasine, 
greatly aghast at the turn which affairs 
were taking. 


60 


The j\Iicldlet()]i Bowl 


^‘How do you know I did!” asked 
Theodora, her face, which had become 
pale, again growing red. 

— I thought I heard them clatter, 
but I may have been mistaken.” 

‘‘The only thing to do,” said Miss 
Joanna, “is to go to the garden our- 
selves, and find what is left of the bowl. 
You said, Thomasine, that she appeared 
to have placed the pieces among the 
currant-bushes. Then we shall discover 
whether or not you were mistaken. You 
are painfully weak and indefinite, and I 
am glad that I, for one, always know 
what I am talking about. T)o you not 
agree with me, Adaline, that it would be 
well for us to go!” 

Miss Middleton acquiesced, and the 
five sisters made themselves ready for 
their walk. They were arrayed in gar- 
den hats and black silk mantillas, and 


Tho Middleton Bowl 


each one carried a sunshade. Even in 
the midst of her misery Theodora won- 
dered at their dressing so exactly" alike, 
and why they all wore gloves that were 
too large for them. 

Slowly they walked, two by two, along 
the path which led to the garden, the 
maids watching them from the kitchen 
windows, and John, the hired man, paus- 
ing in his work among the sweet-pease 
to stare after them in astonishment. He 
also had heard of the calamity which had 
befallen the household, but he did not 
know the connection between that and 
the foot of the garden, and he never be- 
fore had seen his mistresses walk there 
at high noon (as it was according to the 
old dial), though he had lived with them 
and hoed their potatoes for twenty 
3^ears. 

Two by two they went, Theodora and 


The Middleton Bowl 


lier aunt Thomasine in front, the other 
aunts behind, down the very path over 
which had passed that delightful funeral 
l^rocession so short a time before. 

^ ^ I wish I were that kitten ! ’ ’ thought 
Teddy, miserably. would rather be 
stoned than this ! I suppose there is no 
way out of it. I Ve got to show them 
where I hid the pieces. If I only had nh 
left that little bit which I never saw at 
all, they would have thought the bowl 
was stolen. They never would have 
dreamed of my breaking it. How fool- 
ish I was!” 

One of the Hoyt boys, looking over 
the wall, saw the approach of the Mid- 
dleton ladies, and summoning all his 
brothers who were available, they leaned 
upon the wall and watched the proceed- 
ings with intense interest. Arthur alone, 
when he saw them coming, dropped the 
63 


The Middleton Bowl 


rake wliicli lie had been using and fled 
toward the barn. 

‘^She ’s only a girl, after all,” he said 
to himself, indignantly. ‘ ^ She can ’t keep 
it dark. I told her they ’d never guess 
it if she only held her tongue, and now 
she has given it away ! ” 

Then his curiosity as to what would 
happen next overcame his apparent de- 
sire for flight, and he returned to his 
brothers on the garden wall, from the 
top of which could be had a fine view 
of the Misses Middletons’ currant- 
bushes. AVhen he arrived at this point 
of vantage he found that the ladies had 
reached the object of their walk, and 
that they stood in a row upon the path. 

‘'Now,” said Joanna, with sarcasm^ — 
“now we shall see whether Thomasine 
was mistaken or not!” 

She closed her sunshade with a vicious 
64 



Theodora watched her for a moment in silence.” 


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The Middleton Bowl 


snap, and proceeded to poke with it 
under the bushes. Theodora watched her 
for a moment in silence. 

You need nT do that, Aunt Joanna,” 
she said; and walking a little distance, 
she stooped and thrust her hand into the 
mass of green weeds and dead leaves 
which had accumulated there. Almost 
immediately she drew forth two pieces 
of broken china. ^^Here they are,” she 
said. 

Miss Middleton took one piece and 
Miss Joanna the other. Without a word 
they turned toward home. Miss Melissa 
and Miss Dorcas followed, and then Miss 
Thomasine, holding Theodora by the 
hand, fell into line behind. They walked 
away as slowly as they had come. 


67 


CHAPTER TIT 


STILL A MYSTERY 

^ 7 hat did you tell them auy- 

V V thing for? T knew you would. 
A girl can’t keep anything dark.” 

‘H didn’t tell. They found it out 
themselves.” 

^‘How could they? They would never 
have known it was broken if you had n’t 
told, and they would never have known 
about the currant-bushes.” 

^‘They found a little bit of the china 
that I never saw at all, and I had to telh 
aboiit the currant-bushes, because Aunt 
Tom said that I had something under my 
apron, and saw us go to the currant- 
bushes. They asked me, and I had to 
68 


The Middleton Bowl 


answer. They think I did it. They don’t 
believe me when I say I did n’t. It is n’t 
a bit nice not to be believed.” 

‘ ‘ Then you did n ’t say anything about 
— about anybody else?” 

^ ^ Of course not ! ’ ’ 

Theodora and Arthur were again in 
the garden. It was afternoon now of the 
day upon which the bowl was broken, 
and Theodora, after spending several 
hours in retirement, had been allowed to 
come out to get the air. 

After their return to the house her 
aunts had tried in vain to extract some- 
thing from her in regard to the accident. 
^ ^ I did not break the bowl, ’ ’ was all that 
she could be induced to say. Each aunt 
tried in turn to vary this reply, but with 
no success. 

Finally, at the end of three-quarters of 
an hour. Miss Middleton said : 

69 


The Middleton Bowl 


“I think, sisters, that the best plan 
will be to send Theodora to her own 
room to think over the wicked falsehood 
which I am afraid she is telling. You 
will remember that when we were young 
our parents were of the opinion that 
solitary confinement was the wisest mode 
of punishment.’^ 

^^They occasionally used a slipper,” 
remarked Miss Joanna. 

‘^But I scarcely like to use a slipper 
with Theodore’s child.” 

^‘No! no!” cried Miss Dorcas, Miss 
Melissa, and Miss Thomasine, with one 
voice. 

^^So, Theodora, you may go to your 
room,” continued Miss Middleton. 
hope that when you come out you will 
be ready to confess.” 

Theodora stood for a moment looking 
from one to the other of the five faces. 


70 


The Middleton Bowl 


‘‘I shan’t do any such thing,” she 
said. ‘‘I can’t confess what I didn’t 
do. If my mother were here she would 
believe me. If you were to keep me shut 
up in the room for weeks and weeks, 
when I came out I should say the same 
thing. Please excuse me for being dis- 
respectful, but I think, except Aunt Tom, 
you are very disagreeable aunts, espe- 
cially Aunt Joanna. I think I would 
rather live with people that were no re- 
lation to me.” 

So saying, she walked from their pres- 
ence and went to her own room, and 
again shut and bolted the door. At din- 
ner-time a tray containing several slices 
of dry bread and a glass of water was 
placed outside, and Mary Ann’s voice 
told her that her dinner was waiting. For 
some time Teddy refused to open, but 
finally her hunger overcame her pride, 
71 


The Middleton Bowl 


and she took the tray into her room, 
and just as she finished, Miss Tlioinasine 
came to the door and tapped gently. 

Teddy, my dear,” she said, in a low 
voice, at the keyhole, ‘Tet me in — ^your 
aunt Tom.” 

And Teddy again opened the door. 

^^Oli, my dear, how you have been 
crying!” said gentle little Miss Tlioma- 
sine. am so grieved about it all. 
Teddy, if you will only tell us the truth, 
even now, we will forgive you. Tell me 
quietly how it happened.” 

‘^Aunt Tom, I can’t make up a story. 
I did n’t break the bowl. MTiy don’t you 
believe me? There are other people in 
the world besides me! 'Why don’t you 
think that some one else did it? Why 
am I the only person that could have 
broken it?” 

‘Aly dear, you forget that the evi- 

72 


The Middleton Bowl 


dence against you is very strong. When 
1 came down-stairs to go with you to the 
garden you came out of the parlor with 
the pieces of china in your hand, hidden 
under your apron. Why did you take 
the trouble to hide them, or to touch 
them at all, if you were not the one who 
broke the bowl?’’ 

Theodora was silent for a few minutes. 
She stood gazing at her aunt, looking 
straight from her fearless brown eyes 
into Miss Thomasine’s gentle blue ones. 

‘^That is true,” she said at last. ^Mt 
does seem queer. But, for all that, I 
didn’t break the bowl. Aunt Tom.” 

‘ ‘ Then can you tell me who did ? ’ ’ 

^‘No, I can’t tell you who did,” she 
said. ^^But do you believe me now. Aunt 
Tom?” 

‘‘Yes, my dear, I do.” 

And then the little girl burst into 

73 


The Middleton Bowl 


tears, and hid her face in her aunBs lap. 

‘ ‘ Oh, I am so glad ! ’ ’ she sobbed. ‘ ^ It 
was terrible to feel that no one believed 
me in this whole house.” 

After a while Miss Thomasine re- 
turned to her sisters, and told them of 
her change of opinion. Needless to say, 
no one agreed with her, and it required 
some determination on her part to re- 
main firm in her conviction. It was not 
as easy to believe her niece guiltless 
when she was confronted by four some- 
what obstinate ladies, as it had been 
when she was looking into Theodora’s 
fearlessly truthful eyes. 

But Miss Thomasine did not falter, 
and she finally succeeded in obtaining 
her sisters’ consent to the proposition 
that their niece should be released from 
solitary confinement, and allowed to go 
out into the fresh air. 


74 


The Middleton BoavI 


“For she is not accustomed to it, and 
I am afraid it will make her ill,” urged 
Miss Thomasine, ^^and then what would 
Theodore and sister Gertrude say?” 

At hearing which the others relented. 

Theodora, upon being liberated, went 
at once to the garden, and here she found 
Arthur Hoyt awaiting her. He was lean- 
ing over the wall, looking sullenly to- 
ward Teddy as she approached. 

thought you were never coming,” 
he said. ^^What made you so long?” 

Ve been shut up,” returned Teddy. 
‘‘They won’t believe I didn’t do it — 
except Aunt Tom. She believes me ; but 
no one else will.” 

“What did you tell them?” 

“That I didn’t do it.’’ 

“Nothing else?” 

“Of course not.” 


75 


The Middleton Bowl 


And then ensued the conversation with 
which this chapter opens. 

Arthur Hoyt was eleven years olJ. 
He was the fifth member of this large 
family, Paul, Charlie, Clement, and Eay- 
mond being older than he. Paul was 
nearly eighteen, and it had been an act 
of great condescension on his part to join 
in the funeral festivities of the morning ; 
but, in spite of the fact that he was to 
enter Harvard this fall, he secretly loved 
an old-fashioned romp with his four 
brothers, though he would not have con- 
fessed it for the world. 

The boys were all lions of health and 
strength, with the exception of Arthur. 
He had always been delicate, and in con- 
sequence had been greatly indulged by 
his parents. His brothers were in the 
habit of treating him with more consid- 
eration than they showed to one another, 
76 


The Middleton Eo\vl 


looking upon liim perhaps as they would 
have looked upon a sister. When Teddy 
came to Alden and they first made her 
acquaintance, they fancied that ^^all she 
would be good for,’’ as they expressed 
it, would be to play quiet games with 
Arthur, but they soon found out their 
mistake. 

Teddy was as much of a jolly good 
fellow” as her name implied. She could 
run, she could row, she could play ball 
with the best of them, and the boys had 
not recovered even yet from their aston- 
ishment at this state of affairs. The 
Misses Middleton’s niece as much of a 
fellow as any of them! And they ac- 
cordingly received her into their midst 
on terms of absolute equality. 

’m glad you didn’t say anything 
about any one else,” said Arthur, when 
he had heard Teddy’s assurance that she 
77 


The Middleton Bowl 


had told nothing. He looked about ap- 
prehensively, as if he feared some one 
might be hidden in the same currant- 
bushes which had sheltered the broken 
bowl. ’ll do something nice for you, 
Teddy. AVould you like to ride my 
wheel ! ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ Arthur ! Do you really mean it ? ” 

‘‘Of course I do,” said he, magnani- 
mously. “I ’ve never let you before, be- 
cause I was afraid you ’d bang it over 
the first thing and smash it ; but I guess 
you ’ll be careful.” 

It was the dearest wish of Theodora ’s 
heart to learn to ride. She had intended 
to ask her aunts’ permission that very 
day; in fact, she had gone back to the 
house with Miss Thomasine for that es- 
pecial purpose; and then had come the 
fatal discovery about the bowl, and ev- 
erything else had been forgotten. 

78 


The Middleton Bowl 


This was a fine opportunity to try it, 
for Arthur was not always in such an 
amiable mood. Perhaps he never again 
would offer to lend her his wheel and 
to teach her. The other boys owned 
bicycles, to be sure, but it was always 
hard to find them at liberty. There was 
usually something of importance to be 
done, and Theodora had noticed that not 
one of them seemed anxious to lend his 
wheel to a beginner.. Charlie had of- 
fered, though, that morning, and she had 
lost the rare chance by going into the 
house to ask permission. She concluded 
not to let another opportunity slip; so, 
after giving the matter brief considera- 
tion, she joyfully accepted Arthur’s 
overture, with or without her aunts ’ ap- 
proval. 

‘‘Come over the wall, then,” said he. 
“The best place for you to learn is on 
79 


The Middleton Bowl 


our drive. I ’ll tiy and find one of the 
other fellows to help teach you; for of 
course you ’ll go tumbling all over every- 
where, and we might as well try to save 
the wheel. ’ ’ 

Teddy wondered if no effort was to 
be made to save her as well as the wheel ; 
but she said nothing, and quickly climbed 
the wall. 

The Misses Middleton meanwhile were 
discussing the situation. 

know the child is speaking the 
truth,” said Miss Thomasine, again and 
again. ^^Some one else is responsible 
for the accident. Now let us consider 
who it can have been.” 

^^Xot one of the servants, I am sure,” 
said Miss Middleton. ‘ ^ Thej^ have lived 
with us too long for us not to know that 
they would confess if they were guilty; 


80 


The Middleton Bowl 


and who else has been in the house to- 
day?’’ 

Miss Melissa suddenly started for- 
ward. 

Sister Adaline, you forget! Some 
one — there have been others ! Do you 
not remember?” 

^ ^ Others ? What others ? ’ ’ 

^‘Surely you remember!” 

‘‘Melissa, do be more explicit, I beg 
of you!” cried Miss Joanna. “It is so 
easy to say what you mean, if you would 
only try it. Who else has been in the 
house ? ’ ’ 

“Dear Joanna, you are so abrupt! 
Dorcas, you remember?” 

But Miss Dorcas had discovered a 
mistake in her knitting, and was busy 
counting. 

“Four, five, six, seven,” she said 


6 — The Middleton Bowl. 


The Middleton Bowl 


aloud, to show them that she could not 
speak. 

am astonished that you have the 
heart to knit, when the Middleton bowl is 
broken, Dorcas!’^ exclaimed Miss Jo- 
anna. ‘^Melissa, kindly tell us what you 
mean.’’ 

But her sister’s manner was apt to 
frighten the faltering Melissa, and she 
was now looking for her salts. 

‘‘I think I know whom Melissa 
means,” said Miss Thomasine, suddenly. 
^ ‘ Two or three of the Hoyt boys accom- 
panied Theodora when she came with 
the cat.” 

Miss Melissa nodded. There was not 
a sound for a moment, the new idea pre- 
sented by this recollection was so as- 
tounding. 

‘‘Do you think — ” began Miss Joanna, 


82 


The Middleton Bowl 


and then stopped, for once unable to fin- 
ish her speech. 

‘‘It might be,^’ whispered Miss Mid- 
dleton. 

“It seems really — but then — perhaps 
— ’’ murmured Miss Melissa. 

“Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. I should 
not be surprised,’^ said Miss Dorcas, lay- 
ing down her needles at last. 

‘ ‘ I am sure that it was not Theodora, ^ ^ 
repeated Miss Thomasine, more earnest- 
ly than ever. 

“There were several boys in the 
house,’’ continued Miss Joanna, “and 
I should not be at all surprised. Ada- 
line, suppose we order the carriage at 
once and drive to Mrs. Hoyt’s. What 
do you think of it?” 

“Quite right, Joanna. You and I will 
go, and Thomasine.” 


83 


The Middleton Bowl 


And they at once made ready for the 
call. 

Although it was but a short distance 
to their neighbor’s house, it did not oc- 
cur to the ladies to walk. They took a 
certain amount of exercise on their own 
place every morning and afternoon, but 
a call would have been shorn of half of 
its formality did they not go in their 
carriage, and the Misses Middleton were 
nothing if not formal. 

They had left their own domain, and 
were being driven slowly along the bit 
of road which lay between their gates 
and those of their neighbor, when, with 
a rapid whiz, a bicycle flew past them, 
followed by another and another. 

‘Mt is a custom which is very alarm- 
ing,” remarked Miss Middleton. 

‘‘There seemed to be a girl on one of 


84 


The Middleton Bowl 


them,” said Miss Joanna. ‘^So very un- 
ladylike ! ’ ’ 

Miss Tliomasine said nothing, hut she 
leaned out of the carriage and looked 
after the rapidly receding figures. She 
was quite certain that she recognized 
that short scarlet skirt and that flying 
brown hair, but she dared not name her 
fears. 

Presently the carriage drew up at 
Mrs. Hoyt’s front steps. There were no 
boys to be seen but Arthur, who discon- 
solately leaned over the piazza railing. 
Teddy had ridden away on his wheel, 
•accompanied by two of his brothers, and 
there was nothing for him to do but to 
await their return. When he saw the 
approach of the Misses Middleton he 
turned and fled. 

wonder where Theodora is?” re- 
marked Miss Middleton. hoped to 
85 


The Middleton Bowl 


find her with Arthur — such a nice, quiet 
little boy. Where can she be?” 

And still Miss Thomasine held her 
peace. 

Mrs. Hoyt was at home, and the ladies 
were ushered into the parlor. 

^ ^ Sister, you must be the one to 
speak,” said Miss Joanna to Miss Mid- 
dleton, ‘‘and I will help you when it is 
necessary. ’ ’ And neither of her hearers 
doubted that she would. 

It was difficult to open the subject; 
for Mrs. Hoyt, filled with trepidation at 
being caught unawares b)" her stately 
neighbors, talked with nervous haste. 
The parlor was in sad confusion, having 
lately been the scene of a bear-fight, car- 
ried on by several of her boys. She her- 
self had not yet dressed for the after- 
noon, and she was wondering if the 
Misses Middleton would discover the 


86 


The Middleton Bowl 


; fact. Fortunately her gingham gown 
was well made and clean; still, it was a 
gingham, and it was afternoon, and Mrs. 
Hoyt had lived long enough in Alden to 
know Alden ideas. 

But the Misses Middleton did not 
notice. They were trying to find a means 
of stemming the tide of Mrs. HoyFs con- 
versation. 

^‘We have come on a matter of im- 
portance,’’ said Miss Middleton at last. 

think, Joanna, we may call it im- 
portant?” looking at her sister. 

‘‘Very important,” said she, with em- 
phasis. 

“Very important,” echoed Miss 
Thomasine, more mildly, plucking nerv- 
ously at the folds of her camel’s hair 
shawl. 

“Indeed!” said Mrs. Hoyt. “Is there 
anything I can do for you? You seem 
87 


The Middleton Bowl 


troubled about something. I hope noth- 
ing has happened. ’ ’ 

There was a slight noise at the back 
of the room at this juncture, and Miss 
Middleton, who was about to speak, 
stopped abruptly. 

^Mt is only Arthur, probably,’’ said 
his mother. ‘^Arthur dear, come speak 
to the Miss Middletons.” 

But no Arthur was forth-coming, so 
Miss Middleton began again. 

^ AVe have met with a great loss. You 
have heard of — in fact, I know you have 
seen — the Middleton bowl.” 

should think so! My dear Miss 
Middleton, you don’t mean to say that 
anything has happened to that? Oh, how 
shocking! Is it broken, or has it been 
stolen ? ’ ’ 

^Mt is broken. It would almost have 


88 


The Middleton Bowl 


been better bad it been stolen. Do you 
not agree with me, Joanna?’’ 

‘‘I do,” said Miss Joanna. Miss Thom- 
asine did not speak. 

^^For there is a great mystery connect- 
ed with it,” continued the speaker. ^^We 
cannot discover who broke it.” 

Could it have been one of the ser- 
vants ? ’ ’ asked Mrs. Hoyt, eagerly. ‘ ^ Oh, 
that beautiful bowl ! So valuable ! So ex- 
quisite! It must have been one of the 
servants.” 

‘Ht was not,” snapped Miss Joanna. 
^ ^ They have lived with us from fifteen to 
thirty years, and they were all in another 
part of the house when it hax)pened. It 
was some one else.” 

‘‘We thought at first that it must have 
been our niece, Theodora,” continued 
Miss Middleton. “There were certain 
circumstances which led us to suspect 
89 


The Middleton Bo^Yl 


her very strongly ; but she declares that 
she did not do it, and our sister Thom- 
asine is inclined to believe her.’’ 

am quite sure that Theodora did 
not break the bowl,” said Miss Thoinas- 
ine, quietly, but firmly. 

‘ ^ Then who could have done it f ” asked 
Mrs. Hoyt. 

There was a profound silence in the 
room, while the three sisters looked at 
one another. Twice Miss Middleton es- 
sayed to speak, but her voice failed her, 
and she coughed instead. Miss Thomas- 
ine pulled off her gloves, quite uncon- 
scious that she was committing such a 
breach of etiquette. Miss Joanna at 
length recovered her usual courage. 

^‘We think, Mrs. Hoyt,” said she^^ 
clearly, and with emphasis, nodding her 
head in time to her words, and causing 
her spectacles to flash ominously — ‘‘we 
90 


The Middleton Bowl 


think that it may have been one of your 
sons.’’ 

Mrs. Hoyt was speechless, and she 
grew very pale. 

^‘What makes you think so!” she 
asked at length. Even Miss Joanna 
quailed before tlie light that was in her 
eyes. 

Because,” she faltered — ‘‘because 
some of them were in our house this 
morning. ’ ’ 

“Miss Middleton, I think I can safely 
say that if one of my boys were responsi- 
ble for such a misfortune, he would be 
enough of a gentleman to acknowledge 
it and to apologize. However, I will 
question them in your presence — that is, 
if they can be found. Ah, there they 
come now, up the drive, and Teddy is 
with them. They have been teaching her 
to ride the bicycle.” 


91 


The Middleton Bowl 


She left the room as she spoke. The 
Misses Middleton looked at one another. 

^‘Onr niece on a bicycle!’’ murmured 
Miss Middleton. 

believe it was she whom we met!” 
exclaimed Miss Joanna. believe also 
that she, and she alone, broke the bowl. 
This only goes to prove it. ’ ’ 

^^How does it prove it, Joanna?” 
asked Miss Thomasine ; but Miss Joanna 
merely glared at her through the gleam- 
ing spectacles. 

Clement and Raymond came quickly 
into the house in response to their moth- 
er ’s call, followed closely by Theodora, 
who was fully prepared to find her aunts 
in the parlor, for she had seen the wait- 
ing carriage. The boys took off their 
caps, and politely shook hands with each 
of the ladies. Their manners were good, 
as even their natural enemies, the Misses 
92 


The Middleton Bowl 


Middleton, had always been forced to 
admit. 

Which of you were at Miss Middle- 
ton’s house to-day?” asked Mrs. Hoyt. 

^ ‘ Clem, and I, and Arthur, ’ ’ said Ray- 
mond. 

^ AVhere is Arthur now?” 

‘‘He ’s ’round here somewhere. We 
left him here when we went off with Ted. 
She was on his wheel ; and, mother, she 
rides as well as a fellow. She went right 
straight off, instanter.” 

The three Misses Middleton groaned 
audibly, while their niece flushed with 
pleasure at this hearty praise. Mrs. 
Hoyt did not pause, however. 

“I am afraid Arthur is hiding some- 
where. I am quite sure he is in the 
room. Please look for him, as he has 
not the civility to come when his mother 
calls him.” 


93 


Tlie Middleton Bowl 


Raymond and Clem made a dash for 
the hack of the room, where they at once 
discovered the missing Arthur, and 
dragged him from his retreat. He came 
forward, hanging his head and looking 
tlie picture of misery. His mother 
glanced at him reproachfully, upon see- 
ing which Arthur looked more miserable 
still. 


94 


CHAPTER IV 


AIT ERRAND OF MERCY 

•^r^OYS,’’ said Mrs. Hoyt, the 
L3 Misses Middleton have met with 
a great loss. Their beantifnl bowl is 
broken. Yon have seen it, and yon have 
heard of its valne, and yon can imagine 
how badly they feel abont it, and now 
they are trying to find out who broke it. 
Yon were at their house this morning, I 
believe. Do yon know anything abont 
itr’ 

Raymond and Clement were unmistak- 
ably very much surprised. They had 
not heard of the accident before, it was 
plainly to be seen, and they eagerly dis- 
claimed all knowledge of the affair. 

‘^Was that the broken china yon found 
in the currant-bushes?’^ exclaimed Ray- 
95 


The Middleton Bowl 


mond. ‘ ‘ How on earth did it get there ? ’ ’ 

^‘Oh, I say!” cried Clement, in the 
same breath. ‘‘Teddy, what were you 
and Arthur doing by the currant-bushes 
before the kitten’s funeral? Don’t you 
remember, Eay?” And then he stopped 
abruptly. He did not want to “give 
them away,” he said to himself. 

“And what do you know about it, 
Arthur ? ’ ’ asked his mother. 

Arthur said nothing. 

“Did you go into Miss Middleton’s 
parlor this morning?” 

Still there was no answer. 

“Arthur, come here to me. Now tell 
me, darling, did you go into Miss Middle- 
ton’s parlor this morning?” 

“Yes, mother,” he said, in a very low 
voice. 

“Did you break the bowl?” 

The silk gowns of the three visitors 
96 


The Middleton Bowl 


rustled audibly as they leaned forward 
to listen. Teddy drew a step nearer and 
waited eagerly for his reply, and the 
other boys gathered about their mother 
and brother, as though to sustain the 
family honor through this terrible emer- 
gency. But Arthur remained silent. 
^‘Did you break the bowl, Arthur T’ 

^ ‘ No, mother, I did n ’t. ’ ’ 

And then, boy of eleven though he 
was, and with his older brothers looking 
on, he began to cry. 

^ ^ Pshaw ! ’ ’ exclaimed Raymond, 
don’t be a baby. Art! If you did it, 
why don’t you own up?” 

Because I didn’t do it,” said Ar- 
thur. ^ ^ I did n ’t do it, and I wish I ’d 
never seen the old bowl ! ’ ’ 

^‘Why, Arthur,” said Theodora, 
thought — Are you sure you did n’t do 
it?” 


7 — The Middlctoft BozvL 


97 


The Middleton Bowl 


courvse I ’m sure; just as sure as 
you are, or anybody else.’’ 

‘‘Do you know anything about it?” 
asked Mrs. Hoyt. “Do you know who 
did do it?” 

To this there was no reply whatever. 

“It is very strange,” said Miss Joan- 
na, grimly. ‘ ‘ Theodora and Arthur both 
had something to do with the calamity, 
for Arthur acknowledges that he was 
there, and Theodora carried away the 
fragments. One of them must be guilty 
of it. Is your boy truthful, Mrs. Hoyt ? ’ ’ 

Before his mother could speak, Ray- 
mond stepped forward and stood in front 
of the Misses Middleton. 

“Look here,” said he. “I guess 
you ’d better understand that we Hoyts 
are n’t cowards and we are n’t liars. If 
my brother Arthur broke that bowl, you 
bet he ’d say so ! ” 


98 


Tlie Middleton Bowl 


‘ Hush, Eay ! ’ ’ said his mother. ‘ ‘ That 
is not the proper way to speak to ladies. 
But I think, Miss Middleton, that what 
Raymond says is the case. If Arthur 
had done it he would acknowledge it. ’ ’ 
^‘But, Arthur,^’ cried Teddy, whose 
face expressed her complete mystifica- 
tion, thought — I don’t understand!” 

’ ^Hlush up!” said Arthur, between his 
sobs. 

Suppose we ask Teddy to give an ac- 
count of what transpired this morning,” 
said Mrs. Hoyt. ^‘Did you find Arthur 
in the parlor?” 

^^Yes, Mrs. Hoyt,” said Theodora. 
wasn’t going to tell this, on Arthur’s 
account, but I suppose I ’ll have to, as 
long as you ask me. When I went down 
to wait for Aunt Tom to go to the gar- 
den I went to the parlor, and there I 
met Arthur coming out. He was crying, 
LOFC, 99 


The Middleton Bowl 


and he seemed terribly frightened, and 
was saying, ^Hide it! hide it!’ and he 
ran away. When I went in, there was 
the bowl on the floor, broken. And then 
I heard Aunt Tom coming down-stairs, 
and I didn’t stop to think, but just 
picked up the pieces and carried them 
out under my apron.” 

^‘And is that all you know!” 

‘‘Yes, Mrs. Hoyt, it is all I know.” 

No one could doubt the truthfulness 
of this statement, and the three Misses 
Middleton rose to go, satisfied, if only 
for the moment, that their niece was 
guiltless. They drove off, Theodora oc- 
cupying the fourth seat in the old ba- 
rouche, and Mrs. Hoyt was left alone 
with her boys. 

A week passed away, and the mystery 
of the broken bowl was as far from being 


100 


The Middleton Bowl 


solved as it had been at the beginning. 
It was carefully carried by three of the 
ladies to the old china-mender in the 
town of Alden, who cemented the pieces 
together so skilfully that the uninitiated 
would never discover that it had been 
broken; but its owners knew only too 
well that this treasure was no longer 
what it had once been, and their feelings 
had received a shock from which they 
could not soon recover. 

As Miss Joanna remarked, when she 
examined the bowl upon its return, ‘ ‘ Mr. 
J ones has done it very well ; but he can- 
not mend our hearts, which were broken 
when the Middleton bowl was broken, 
and even if the cracks are well hidden, 
they will always stare us in the face!^’ 

Though her aunts no longer thought 
that Theodora was actually responsible 
for the accident, they were quite sure 
101 


The Middleton Bowl 


that she knew who was, and they cen- 
sured her severely for her silence. Even 
Miss Thoinasine felt that she might tell 
them more if she would. But Teddy had 
already given her version of the atfair, 
and there was nothing more to be said. 
She had supposed from the beginning 
that Arthur was the author of the mis- 
fortune, and though she did not like to 
doubt his word, she greatly feared that 
he was not speaking the truth when he 
denied this. 

His -brothers stoutly maintained his 
innocence when talking to Theodora, or 
to any one outside of the family, but with 
one another they acknowledged having 
some misgivings. 

see. Art has been sick such a lot 
that I guess he is afraid to own up,’’ 
said they among themselves. He is n’t 
just like the rest of us. Look how afraid 
102 


Tlie Middleton Bowl 


lie is in the dark, and in that spooky 
place in the woods, and of lots of other 
things. I suppose he is afraid father 
will punish him if he owns up, and so 
he ’s going to keep it dark as long as 
he can.’’ 

Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt were both greatly 
troubled by the affair. They knew the 
value of the bowl, a value which could 
not be made good by any amount of 
money, and they knew that such a rare 
work of art could never be replaced ; and, 
besides, the fact that if Arthur had 
broken it he lacked sufficient moral cour- 
age to confess, was a bitter grief to them. 
But the ^^if” was a large one, and Ar- 
thur’s mother could not bring herself 
to believe that her boy was not speaking 
the truth. 

Arthur himself showed plainly that 
he was sutfering. He grew pale and lost 
103 


The Middleton Bowl 


his appetite; lie started at every sound, 
and when he was out-of-doors he would 
stop constantly in his play to look about 
apprehensively, to peer behind bushes 
or trees, and to take refuge in the house 
did he see any one coming. 

He and Teddy discussed the subject 
more than once, but never with any satis- 
factory result. It usually ended in his 
running to his mother to declare, with 
tears and sobs, that he did not break the 
old bowl, and he wished that he had 
never seen it. 

In the meantime Teddy continued to 
ride the bicycle. Her aunts seemed to 
have completely forgotten having seen 
her in the very act. They did not men- 
tion the subject again, being absorbed in 
conjectures and grief about the bowl, 
and Theodora, apparently believing that 


104 


The Middleton Bow 


silence gave consent, did not recall it to 
their minds. 

The boys were all perfectly willing 
now that she should use their wheels, for 
she soon rode as well as they did, and as 
there were so many bicycles in the fam- 
ily, there was usually one that she could 
take. 

One afternoon Teddy had been off on 
quite a little excursion by herself. She 
was on Arthur’s wheel, and she had 
gone ‘‘around the square,” as they called 
it, coming home by a back way. Just 
as she drew near her aunts’ house a 
heavy shower which had been gathering 
for some time, unnoticed by Theodora, 
came pattering down. 

There was hail as well as rain, and 
Teddy rode quickly to the house and 
went in by the kitchen door. She took 
the wheel in with her and placed it in 
105 


The Middleton Bowl 


the back hall, in an out-of-the-way cor- 
ner, intending to return it to Arthur as 
soon as the storm should be over. 

But it lasted longer than she expected, 
and by the time it had ceased to rain 
supper was ready. It was quite dark 
now by six o’clock, and Theodora knew 
that her aunts would not allow her to 
go out alone so late, so she determined 
to get up early the next morning, and 
take the wheel back then. She said 
nothing of this plan, however, and did 
not mention to her aunts that a hated 
bicycle was in the house. 

In fact she was not at all sure that she 
was doing right to ride without their 
permission, and she made up her mind 
that she would tell them, to-morrow. Now 
that she had attained her object, and had 
learned how, she would not mind so 
much if she were forbidden by them to 
106 


The Middleton Bowl 


ride, for she was sure that when her 
father and mother returned to this coun- 
try in the spring they would buy her a 
wheel, and until then she could wait. 
Indeed, she hoped, from what she had 
heard her mother say, that Mrs. Middle- 
ton would learn to ride herself, in spite 
of the sentiments of her sisters-in-law 
upon the subject. 

Eight o’clock was Teddy’s bedtime, 
and she bade her aunts good-night at 
that hour as usual. She had been asleep 
but a short time when she was awakened 
by a commotion in the hall, most unusual 
in that quiet household. There were hur- 
ried footsteps and half-smothered excla- 
mations, and presently she was quite 
sure that she heard moans of pain. 

Springing out of bed, she ran to the 
door and opened it just in time to see 
Miss Thomasine hurry through the hall 
107 


The Middleton Bowl 


with a mustard plaster in her hand, 
while in the distance appeared Miss Me- 
lissa with a hot-water bag, and from 
another room emerged Miss Dorcas 
with a bottle of medicine. 

^‘What is the matter, Aunt Tom?’’ 
asked Teddy. ‘Ms any one sick?” 

“Your aunt Joanna is very ill,” whis- 
pered Miss Thomasine, as she passed. 

Much startled, Teddy went back to her 
room and waited. Then she concluded 
to dress herself and go to her aunt’s 
door to see if she could be of any help. 
This did not take long, but when she 
knocked at the door it was opened by 
Miss Dorcas, who told her that she had 
better not come in. 

Theodora was sadly frightened, and 
the groans which she heard did not tend 
to reassure her. Her aunt must be very 
ill; perhaps she was even dying. 

108 


The Middleton Bowl 


‘‘Have you sent for the doctor!” she 
asked. 

“There is no one to send,” said Miss 
Dorcas, “for John is in bed with a bad 
attack of rheumatism; so your aunt Me- 
lissa is going with Catherine, the cook. 
They are getting ready now, but I am 
afraid it will take them a long time to 
get to Dr. Morton’s house; and it is so 
very late for women to be out alone' — 
after ten o’clock!” 

And then she shut the door again, and 
her niece was left alone in the hall, with 
the sound of her aunt Joanna’s moans in 
her ears. 

She went to look for her aunt Melissa, 
and found that she was just rousing 
Catherine from her first heavy slumber. 
Though ten o’clock was not late in the 
eyes of the world, the Middleton house- 
hold had been in bed for an hour, and 
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The Middleton Bowl 


to them it seemed like the middle of the 
night. 

It would take Catherine a long time to 
get awake, to say nothing of dressing. 
Miss Melissa herself was in her wrapper, 
and Theodora supposed that she would 
not go forth even upon an errand of life 
and death without arraying herself as 
if for a round of calls, down to the very 
last pin in the shoulder of her camePs- 
hair shawl — and in the meantime Aunt 
Joanna might die! 

How dreadful it was ! Teddy wished 
that she could do something. She did 
not love Aunt Joanna as she did her 
other aunts, hut she would do anything 
to save her life. She could run to Dr. 
Morton’s in half the time that it would 
take Aunt Melissa and old Catherine to 
get there. 

Suddenly she bethought herself of 
110 


The Middleton Bowl 


Arthur’s wheel down in the back entry. 
She would go on that ! 

No sooner said than done. She did 
not tell her aunts of her inspiration, 
knowing that valuable time would be lost 
in the discussion that would ensue, and 
she would probably be back before Aunt 
Melissa had left their own gates. She 
flew down-stairs, picking up her worsted 
cap as she ran through the hall. It took 
but a moment to unfasten the back door 
and lift the wheel down the short flight 
of steps. Another moment and she was 
mounted and otf. 

The storm-clouds had rolled away, and 
the sky was now perfectly clear. The 
moon had risen an hour since, making 
the night as bright as day with its 
strange, weird light, the light that trans- 
forms the world into such a different 
place from that which the sun reveals. 

Ill 


The Middleton" Bowl 


Teddy had seldom been out at night, and 
now to go alone on such an errand and 
in such a manner filled her with excite- 
ment. 

To be fleeing away on a bicycle at dead 
of night to save her aunt’s life was some- 
thing which she had never dreamed it 
would be her fate to do. 

Puddles of rain-water stood here and 
there in her path, but the Alden roads 
were noted for their excellence, and even 
after the heavy shower they were hard 
as boards, and the pools were easily 
avoided. The moonlight cast strange 
shadows over the lawn, and as she flew 
past the gate-post it almost seemed as 
if some one were standing there and had 
moved ; but of course that was only her 
imagination, Teddy told herself. The 
child had not a thought of fear. 

Her aunts’ house was on the outskirts 
112 


The Middleton Bowl 


of the town, and at this hour the street 
was but little frequented, and she met 
no one as she skimmed over the broad 
white road. Dr. Morton’s house was 
about a mile from that of the Misses 
Middleton, and it did not take long to 
get there. The doctor’s buggy was at 
the door, and he himself was just in the 
act of. alighting, when there was the whiz 
of a wheel on the gravelled driveway and 
the sharp, sudden ring of a bicycle bell. 

The doctor turned in time to see a 
small girlish figure swing herself to the 
ground. 

Bless my soul!” exclaimed he, much 
startled. ^^Who is this?” 

‘Mt ’s Teddy Middleton, and Aunt Jo- 
anna is very ill. Please come just as 
quick as you can. Dr. Morton.” 

‘‘Bless my soul!” repeated the doctor. 
“You don’t mean to tell me the good 

S — The Middleton Bowl 1 1 ^ 


The Middleton Bowl 


ladies have allowed you to come out at 
this hour of the night, and on a bicycle 1 ’ ’ 
He knew them well, and had heard 
them discourse more than once on the 
subject of their pet aversion. 

‘^No, they don’t know anything about 
it,” said Teddy. ^‘And Aunt Melissa 
and old Catherine are getting ready to 
walk here, so I must hurry back and stop 
them ; and I think Aunt J oanna is dying. 
Dr. Morton, so please hurry.” 

Before the doctor could reply she had 
mounted her wheel and had disappeared 
in the shadow of the trees at the gate. 
Without waiting another moment he 
stepped into his buggy, and turning his 
tired horse once more away from home, 
he drove after her as quickly as possible. 

Teddy reached the house just as her 
aunt, clothed with the care which she had 
suspected, and accompanied by the still 
114 


The Middleton Bowl 


half-asleep Catherine, emerged from the 
front door. The sight of some one at 
the foot of the steps nearly caused Miss 
Melissa to faint with horror upon the 
spot. 

^ ^ Oh ! ’ ’ she gasped. ‘ ‘ Burglars ! Mur- 
der ! ’ ’ 

'‘No, it isnT, Aunt Melissa. It’s 
only Teddy. You needn’t go for the 
doctor ; he is coming. ’ ’ 

"Child, what do you — Catherine, 
your arm, please! Surely you haven’t 
been — and on that!” 

The unwonted excitement under which 
Miss Melissa was laboring caused her to 
be more incoherent even than usual. 

» "Yes, I have been for him,” said Ted- 
dy, coolly, as she lifted the bicycle up the 
steps and stood it on the piazza, "and 
here he comes now.” 

The roll of wheels and the quick tread 
115 


The Middleton Bowl 


of a horse’s hoofs were heard upon the 
avenue, and in another moment the doc- 
tor had alighted. Miss Melissa, inca- 
pable of further speech, turned and fol- 
lowed him into the house. 

He found Miss Joanna indeed very ill 
with a sharp attack of the heart trouble 
to which she was subject. It was some 
time before she was relieved, hut at 
length the pain passed by, and she was at 
least out of danger; but it had been a 
narrow escape. 

‘Hf I had been five minutes later I 
doubt if I could have saved her,” said 
the doctor, ^‘and it is all owing to that 
niece of yours that! got here in time.” 

‘‘May I ask what you mean. Doctor?” 
said Miss Middleton. “I thought that 
my sister Melissa went to you.” 

“Miss Melissa was just about to leave 
the house when I drove up. That bright 
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Tlie Middleton Bowl 


little Teddy came for me on a wheel. 
Where she got it I don’t know, unless 
you have relented and given her one. If 
you have n’t, it is high time you did, for 
she deserves it for her presence of mind. 
And it is high time, too, that you changed 
your minds about bicycles, for it is all 
owing to one that Miss Joanna is alive 
now. I tell you that if I had been five 
minutes later she wouldn’t be living 
now. ’ ’ 

‘'Oh, Doctor!” exclaimed the three 
ladies who were with him in the room 
next to Miss Joanna’s, while the fourth 
watched by the invalid’s bed. 

“It is the truth,” continued Dr. Mor- 
ton, who was in the habit of speaking his 
mind plainly to the awe-inspiring Misses 
Middleton, as well as to every one else; 
“and that bright little Teddy deserves 


119 


The Middleton Bowl 


a wheel of her own — if you have n’t giv- 
en her one already.” 

In the meantime Teddy had been wan- 
dering about the big house, not knowing 
quite what to do with herself. She went 
to her own room at first, but she could 
not stay there. It was just near enough 
to her aunt J oanna for her to hear muf- 
fled sounds from her room without know- 
ing what they meant. She could not go 
there, and her aunts were all too much 
occupied in obeying the doctor’s com- 
mands and in waiting upon their sister 
to speak to her. 

The servants had collected in the back 
part of the hall, very much frightened at 
the state of atfairs, weeping and exclaim- 
ing with one another. Theodora, after 
trying each unoccupied room in turn, at 
last found herself in the parlor. It was 
120 


The Middleton Bowl 


very dark at first, but she pulled up the 
Venetian blinds at the front windows, 
and let in a flood of moonlight. 

Teddy had never before seen the room 
look so attractive. It was not often so 
brilliantly illuminated, for the shades 
were always carefully drawn. She moved 
restlessly about for a time, not daring 
to touch any of the treasures, but look- 
ing at them with interest and curiosity. 

The mended bowl was again in its 
place upon the Chinese table, the beauti- 
ful yellow porcelain shining in the sil- 
very light. 

‘ ‘ I wonder if Arthur really did n ’t do 
it, ’ ’ thought Teddy. ^ ‘ It is the queerest, 
strangest thing that ever happened. I 
wish we could find out about it.^^ 

She thought about this for some time, 
and then, spying a Chinese puzzle which 
hung from a comer of a cabinet, she 
121 


The Middleton Bowl 


took it down and began to play with it. 
It was composed of a number of slender 
sticks of carved ivory which were strung 
horizontally upon silken cords of various 
colors. Theodora had seen it before, and 
she never wearied of slipping the sticks 
up and down the silk, first disclosing a 
dozen cords, then but two or three, some- 
times more, sometimes less, the mechan- 
ism of which constituted the puzzle. She 
worked at it for ten minutes, sitting in 
the full glory of the moonlight ; and then 
suddenly she became conscious that she 
was not alone in the room. 

A slight, almost imperceptible noise 
behind her, the faintest of movements in 
the back of the room, told her that un- 
questionably some one was there ! 


122 


CHAPTER V 


A NIGHT ADVENTURE 

ES, some one was in the room. Theo- 



1 dora felt a little thrill of excite- 
ment as she realized this fact. Was it a 
robber who had hidden there ? Perhaps, 
though, it was only one of the servants. 
She felt almost disappointed when this 
thought crossed her mind — a robber 
would be so much more uncommon. And 
yet he might try to kill her; robbers fre- 
quently did such things. She withdrew 
more into the shadow, and waited. 

Not another sound was to be heard. 
Brave as she naturally was, Theodora 
felt a tremor of fear as she sat there 
in the silence of the night. She was quite 


123 


The Middleton Bowl 


sure that she had heard something; of 
that there was no doubt. She knew with 
absolute certainty that some one or 
something alive was in her aunts’ parlor 
besides herself. 

Should she go and call somebody? No, 
that would not do, for her aunts had had 
too much excitement already. If they 
knew that a burglar — for it certainly 
might be one — was in the drawing-room 
they would without doubt scream and 
faint, and that would be bad for her aunt 
Joanna, to say the least. The servants 
would be useless, for they were all elder- 
ly, and were quite as unstrung as were 
their five mistresses, and John, the only 
man of the household, was ill in his room 
over the stable. 

The doctor was up-stairs, to be sure, 
but it was early in the night, and he was 
in close attendance upon his patient, who 
124 


The Middleton Bowl 


was not yet out of danger. All these 
thoughts passed rapidly through Ted- 
dy ^s mind, and she saw that she must 
act alone. 

don’t believe a robber would kill 
a little girl,” she said to herself, ^^and I 
will speak to him very politely. ’ ’ 

Her first act was to walk around the 
room pulling up all the Venetian blinds 
as high as they would go. There were 
seven windows in the large room^ — two 
at each end, and three on the side that 
had the two fireplaces. On the fourth 
side of the room were two doors, one 
leading into the front hall, the other into 
the back. The parlor occupied the whole 
of that side of the main house. The 
kitchens were in the ‘ ‘ L ” at the back, cut 
off by a door into the hall. 

It required some courage to go from 
window to window, particularly when 
125 


The Middleton Bo^Yl 


Teddy reached that part of the room 
whence the sound had come, but she felt 
that she must have as much light as pos- 
sible. Her fingers trembled as she tried 
to fasten the cord which held the blinds. 
Once their strength failed them, and the 
slats of the blind fell down with a terri- 
fying clatter; but she pulled them up 
again, and wound the cord firmly about 
the hook. 

At last the seven shades were up, and 
the room was as light as the world with- 
out. Only here and there lay a black 
shadow which might contain — anything ! 
Teddy then took up her position near the 
door, that she might escape should af- 
fairs become very alarming, and tried 
to speak. At first not a sound came 
from her. She cleared her throat, and 
tried again. 

‘Hs anybody in this room?” she 

126 


The Middleton Bowl 


asked. Only the silence and the shad- 
ows made reply. ‘ ^ I am quite sure some 
one is,” she continued, gaining courage 
at the sound of her own voice ; ‘ ‘ I heard 
you breathe a little while ago, and I 
heard you knock something. If you don’t 
come out I shall have to go and call Dr. 
Morton, who is up-stairs. He is with 
my aunt Joanna, who is very ill. I should 
lock the parlor doors while I am gone, 
so you could n’t get out.” 

She thought this was a brilliant in- 
spiration, quite forgetting the seven win- 
dows within easy reach of the ground. 
To this long speech, however, there was 
no reply. 

declare, it is too bad!” went on 
Teddy. ‘ H do think you might say some- 
thing. I won’t let any one hurt you, and 
if you are a robber I ’ll let you get away 


127 


The Middleton Bowl 


as easily as anything, if you ’ll only 
come out!” 

She ceased again, and suddenly a voice 
replied. It sounded so near, and it was 
so unexpected — for she had now almost 
made up her mind that no one was there, 
after all — that it made Teddy jump. 

^ ‘ Do you mean that ! ” it said. 

^^Yes, of course I do,” said she, speak- 
ing very rapidly, and fixing her eyes 
upon the old-fashioned sofa with the 
high back, whence the voice seemed to 
proceed. ‘^Please come out and tell me 
who you are and what you want.” 

The sofa was placed across a corner, 
and as Teddy watched it eagerly it was 
pushed slightly from behind, and a boy- 
ish figure rose against the wall. There 
was something about the intruder that 
seemed familiar to her, and she stepped 
forward. 


128 


The Middleton Bowl 


“Why — why, is it you?'’ she ex- 
claimed, as the boy climbed over the sofa 
and stood in the moonlight. 

“Yes, it 's me," was the reply. 

Sure enough, it was Andy Morse, the 
boy who stoned the kitten. 

“Why, what do you want here?" 
asked Teddy, all her fear vanishing at 
sight of this well-known fa^e. “I am so 
glad it is you, for, do you know, I was 
really afraid it was somebody come to 
steal something. What have you come 
for, and why did you come in such a 
queer way in the middle of the night ? ’ ’ 

The boy shuffled his feet, and looked 
away from her. 

“Is there anything I can do for you?" 
she continued. 

“Yes," said he, in a hoarse whisper; 
“I 'm awful hungry." 

“Oh, are you? Well, just wait here, 

9 — The Middleton Bowl 


The Middleton Bowl 


and I ’ll get you something to eat. Or 
perhaps you had better come with me, 
for my aunts don’t like to have eating 
in the parlor. You might drop the 
crumbs, you know. I often do. We ’ll 
go out to the kitchen ; but first I must find 
some matches.” 

‘‘Here ’s one,” said Morse, diving into 
his pocket. 

He followed her through the door into 
the back hall. She could not reach the 
gas-burner, so he lighted it for her, both 
there and in the kitchen. She went to 
the bread-box and took out a loaf of 
Catherine’s delicious graham bread, and 
then she went to the refrigerator in the 
hall and procured some butter. A 
pitcher of milk and some cold mutton 
were also within reach. These she 
brought and placed upon the kitchen ta- 
ble, inviting her guest at the same time to 
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The Middleton Bowl 


draw up a chair. Then, having sup- 
plied him with a knife and fork, and 
some cookies which she found in the 
store-room, she sat down at the table 
herself. 

am hungry too,’’ she remarked 
affably. ‘‘I have been up all night, and 
I went after the doctor on a bicycle. It 
makes you awfully hungry to do so much 
in the night. ’ ’ 

Her guest made no reply to this, but 
devoted himself to his supper with an 
avidity which left no doubt of his being 
hungry himself. Every drop of the milk 
had disappeared, every scrap of meat 
upon the mutton-bone had been devoured 
before he spoke. Then he pushed back 
his chair. ‘‘Thank you,” said he. “I 
ain’t had nothin’ ter eat since day before 
yesterday. ’ ’ 

“Oh,” cried Theodora, “I don’t won- 
131 


The Middleton Bowl 


der you were hungry! Won’t you have 
something more? Why, how did it hap- 
pen?” 

^‘It happened ’cause I ’m tired of 
askin’ folks ter give me somethun when 
they don’t want ter, and I ’ain’t had no 
money ter pay for it, and yer can’t get 
nothin’ without payin’ for it unless yer 
wants ter get chucked inter jail. So that 
is the reason I come here. I thought 
I ’d get ter jail sooner or later, and I 
might as well try for somethun big first. 
Yer don’t much care what yer do when 
yer as hungry as I was.” 

^‘What do you mean?” asked Teddy, 
don’t quite understand what you say 
about jail.” 

The boy looked at her in silence for a 
moment or two. ‘^Look ahere,” said 
he, at last. ‘‘I thought I hated yer 
’count o’ that black eye yer give me long 
132 


The Middleton Bowl 


that cat. I ain’t never been set onter 
by a girl before, and it jest made me 
rippin’ mad. I didn’t s’pose I ’d ever 
git over it, and I ’d ’a ’ liked ter ’a ’ paid 
yer back over and over again, but I feel 
dilf ’runt now. Yer ’ve been mighty per- 
lite, and give me as good a lot o’ victuals 
as I ever tasted. I feel better, now I ’ve 
got somethun inside o ’ me, and I ’m ago- 
in’ to tell yer somethun. I don’t believe, 
after all, as yer the kind o ’ girl as would 
git me inter trouble. ’ ’ 

^^Oh no; of course not!” said Teddy, 
earnestly. was very mad at you that 
day, for I do think it is perfectly horrible 
for any one to hurt an animal. I ’m 
sorry I hurt you very badly, but I may 
just as well tell you the truth. You 
had better never do it again if you see 
me anywhere near, for I am sure, per- 
fectly sure, that it would make me just 
133 


The Middleton Bowl 


as mad as it did that day, and I am very 
nmch afraid I should attack you the same 
way. My aunts did not like my doing 
it at all, and they said it was unladylike, 
and I suppose it was. But oh ! you don’t 
know how angry it makes me to see any 
one cruel to animals ! ’ ’ 

They were standing facing each other, 
the little girl in her pretty red frock, 
with the mass of tumbled brown hair 
falling over her shoulders; the tall un- 
gainly boy in his ragged clothes, twisting 
his hat in his hands as he listened to this 
tirade. When she had finished, he lifted 
his eyes and looked at her admiringly. 

^ ‘ Yer a go od one, ’ ’ said he. ^ M kinder 
like yer underneath fer it, though yer 
did give me a black eye and make me 
mad. And yer Ve been that good ter 
me ter-night, givin’ me such a lot ter eat, 
that I ’m willin’ ter promise yer some- 
134 


The Middleton Bowl 


tlmn. I won’t stone no more kittens, 
not if I can help it, nor puppies neither.” 

^‘Oh, tliank you!” cried Theodora fer- 
vently. ‘‘I am so much obliged to you 
for saying that ! Will you really be kind 
to animals after this? You don’t know 
what a relief to my mind it is. I have 
often thought of you since, and wondered 
if you were being cruel ; and now I shall 
feel quite easy about you. The poor 
kitten died, you know.” 

Morse said nothing to this. 

^^And we had a funeral,” continued 
Teddy. ^‘That was a dreadful day al- 
together, except the funeral. That was 
nice, but a terrible misfortune happened 
to our family that day. But you said 
you were going to tell me something. 
Was it about being kind to animals?” 

‘ ^ No, it war n ’t about animals. ’ ’ 


135 


The Middleton Bowl 


^^What was itr’ asked Theodora, 
much interested. 

yer promise not ter git me inter 
trouble r’ he asked again. 

course I ’ll promise.” 

‘ ‘ Then I ’ll tell yer. 'Do yer know how 
I got in here ter-night ? ’ ’ 

‘^No; I was going to ask you that.” 

^‘Well, yer know when yer went out 
on the bike f ’ ’ 

‘‘When I went for the doctor? Yes.” 

“Well, I was down near the gate, 
a-hangin’ round, not knowin’ what I was 
agoin’ ter do, and when I seen yer go by, 
I thinks, here ’s a chance. Most likely 
she ’s left a door open or somethun, and 
I can git in and git somethun or other. 
Yer see, I was so hungry I was ready 
for anything. And I found the back 
door open, and I walked in as easy as 
anything. I was afraid to hide in the 
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The Middleton Bowl 


kitchen, for I heard people movin’ round, 
so I crep’ inter the parlor, for I knew 
the big sofa there ’d hide me.” 

^ ‘ AVhy, how did you know that ! ’ ’ asked 
Theodora. ‘‘Have you ever been in our 
parlor I ’ ’ 

The boy drop]3ed his eyes again, and 
again shifted his hat. 

“I jest thought there ’d be some place 
there,” said he; “most folks has sofas.” 

“And what were you going to do? 
Were you going to stay there all night?” 

“I was ago in’ ter stay there till the 
house got quiet, and then I was ago in’ 
ter make a grab and be otf.” 

“A grab?” repeated Teddy, wonder- 
ingly. 

“Yes, a grab. I was agoin’ ter take a 
lot o’ things — them silver things and 
some o’ the chiny — anythin ’I could 
get.” 


137 


The Middleton Bowl 


‘‘You mean you were going to steal 
something 

“Yes,” he said, doggedly. 

Theodora drew a step nearer. 

“Then you were a robber after all!” 
she said. “I never saw one before. But 
oh, I am so sorry it was you! I am too 
sorry! I was just getting to like you, 
because you said you would be kind to 
animals after this. Are you really a rob- 
ber?” 

“I ain’t one yet,” said the boy, “and 
now I dunno as I ’ll ever be one. I feel 
kinder diff ’runt about it, now I ’ve got 
somethun inside o’ me. I guess you ’d 
feel like stealin’ if yer had n’t had noth- 
in’ ter eat since day before yesterday.” 

“I do believe I would,” said Theo- 
dora, compassionately, “it must be per- 
fectly awful! But oh, I hope you won’t 
steal anything ! It is such a wicked thing 
138 


The Middleton Bowl 


to do. You know there is a coimnand- 
ment entirely about that, so it must be 
one of the wickedest things there are. 
Please don’t steal!” 

^ ^ I won ’t, ’ ’ said Andy Morse. ‘ ‘ I feel 
diff ’runt now. ’ ’ 

There was a pause, while Theodora 
rapidly thought over the situation. 

‘‘What are you going to do to-mor- 
row?” she asked. “How will you get 
something to eat then ? ’ ’ 

“Dunno. Trust ter luck, I guess.” 

‘ ‘ Have n ’t you any relations ? ’ ’ 

“Only an uncle, and he ’s drunk most 
o’ the time and won’t give me nothin’.” 

“And won’t any of your friends give 
you anything?” 

“Ain’t got none, and I ’m tired of 
askin’ people ter give me victuals. 
There ain’t no one as seems ter want ter. 
Yer see, I ’ve got a kinder bad name 
139 


The Middleton Bowl 


round here. That ’s the reason I can’t 
get no work.” 

^‘Wouldn’t you like some money?” 
asked Teddy. ’ve got some up-stairs 
I could very well give you, if you would 
let me. Then you could buy yourself 
something to eat for a few days, at any 
rate. ’ ’ 

The boy looked at her. ^^Yer a real 
good un,” said he, after a moment’s 
grateful pause. ‘ ‘ If I had a little money 
ter git some decent clo’es, I might git 
some work somewhere or other. I ’d 
rather be honest if I can, but a poor 
shabby-lookin’ feller like me don’t stand 
no chance, and everybody in Alden thinks 
I ’m no good. If I could git away from 
here, I might git somethun ter do some- 
where else. Do yer really mean yer ’d 
give me some money?” 

^‘Of course I do,” replied Teddy; 

140 


, The Middleton Bowl 


‘M ’ll go up and get it now. It ’s in my 
bank. Suppose we put this light out and 
go back to the parlor; you can wait for 
me there. ’ ’ 

They reached the drawing-room door, 
and Teddy, opening it, motioned to her 
guest to go in and be seated. The moon- 
light still flooded the room, and it lighted 
up the old silver snuffers and trays, the 
tall silver candelabra which flanked both 
ends of the two mantel-pieces, and even 
Great-grandfather Middleton’s gold 
snuff-box, which was always kept upon a 
cabinet in the front of the room. 

^^Say!” exclaimed Andy Morse, in a 
sharp whisper ain’t yer ’fraid ter leave 
me here with all them things? Ain’t yer 
’fraid I might steal ’em, after all?” 

^^Oh, no,” said Theodora, following 
him into the room and closing the door, 
^^of course not. You just told me you 
141 


The Middleton BoayI 


wouldn’t steal, that you were going to 
be honest, and of course I believe you.” 

And then she went out of the parlor 
and left him alone in the moonlight with 
the gold and the silver, and all the price- 
less china, from the Middleton bowl 
down. She was absent about ten min- 
utes. When she returned she carried a 
small silk bag in her hand, which she 
gave to Morse. 

^Mt is all in there,” she said’ — ^^all I 
have. I just emptied my bank right into 
that work-bag, for I thought it would be 
easier for you to carry the money that 
way. I don’t know how much there is 
there, but I think it is about fifteen dol- 
lars, for I ’ve been saving it for some 
time. It seems heavy, for so much of 
it is in pennies and five- and ten-cent 
pieces, but I don’t believe you will mind 
carr^dng it. ’ ’ 


142 


The Middleton Bowl 


Andy Morse was speechless. He took 
the hag^ shook it, weighed it, looked at 
it in the light. Twice he tried to speak, 
but no words came. 

‘^Do yer — do yer really mean to give 
me all this ! ” he stammered at last. 

‘^Certainly I do,’’ replied Teddy. 
only hope it will be enough for you to 
get what you want.” 

^^Look ahere,” said Andy; ‘‘jest yer 
listen ter me ! I solemnly promise I ’ll 
act straight after this. I won’t steal, 
and I won’t hurt no animals, and I won’t 
do nothin’ yer wouldn’t like. And if I 
ever make enough, I ’ll pay yer back this 
monej", sure ’s I ’m alive. I ’ll count it, 
and I ’ll pay yer back every cent. Do 
yer believe me?” 

“Yes, indeed I do; but you needn’t 
bother about paying it back, for you 
really need it a great deal more than I 
143 


The Middleton Bowl 


do. ’ ’ As she spoke, her glance fell upon 
the Middleton bowl, gleaming in the 
moonlight. ‘^Before you go, I want to 
show you this,” she said, moving over 
to the Chinese table in the window. 

^^This was broken the day — the day 
the kitten died, and we can’t find out 
who did it. It is very, very valuable, 
and all of our family think more of it 
than anything else we own, because my 
great-grandfather brought it home and 
gave it to his son, and when my aunts 
die it is to go to my father, and then 
to me. It is never to go out of the fam- 
ily, and now it is broken, and had to be 
mended. We can’t find out who did it, 
and it has given us lots of trouble. My 
aunts thought at first that I did it, and 
sometimes they think so now, I am sure ; 
but I didn’t. It makes me so unhappy 
to think they don’t believe me.” She 
144 


The Middleton Bo^Yl 


paused for a moment and gazed at the 
bowl. Then she continued. ^‘It is ’nt 
nice not to be believed, and that is the 
reason I am telling you about it. I just 
happened to think of it. I want to tell 
you again that I really and truly believe 
you. I don’t want you to feel unhappy 
about that, the way I do about the Mid- 
dleton bowl.” 

Andy looked at it in silence. Then he 
turned away. 

’m agoin’ now,” he said. ‘^Good- 
by. Yer Ve saved me, and I ’ll never 
forgit it. Would yer please tell me what 
yer name is?” he asked, shyly. ^‘Yer 
first name, I mean. Of course I know 
yer other name ’s Middleton.” 

‘ ‘ Theodora, ’ ’ said she, ^ ^ but everybody 
calls me Teddy, and I like that best. 
Good-by ! I hope you will be able to get 
some work. I ’m very glad I came down 


10 — The Middleton Bowl. ^45 


The Middleton Bowl 


here to-night. If Aunt Joanna hadn’t 
been so ill I shouldn’t have come. If I 
can ever do anything else for you, I 
wish you would tell me. Please go out 
the back door, the way you came in, if 
you don’t mind, for I am afraid my 
aunts might hear the front door shut, 
and it would frighten them.” 

She followed him to the back door and 
watched him walk away in the moon- 
light, swinging the bag in his hand. 
Then she closed the door and went back 
to the drawing-room. 

‘ ^ It must be dreadful to be so hungry, ’ ’ 
she said to herself, as she again stood 
by the Middleton bowl, ^^and I ’m glad I 
told him I believed him. It certainly is 
dreadful not to be believed.” 


146 


CHAPTER VI 


A WELCOME LETTER 

I T was four o^clock in the morning be- 
fore the household had settled down 
into its accustomed quiet. Miss Joanna 
was at last sleeping quietly, and the doc- 
tor assured the sisters that tliey need 
fear no further danger. He begged them 
to go to their rooms and try to get some 
rest, for he saw that the four ladies were 
in a state of nervous excitement which 
was almost alarming. Miss Middleton 
declared that she should not leave her 
sister Joanna, but she begged the others 
to follow the doctor’s advice. Miss 
Thomasine, as she passed Theodora’s 
room, opened the door quietly and looked 
147 


The Middleton Bowl 


in. She intended to tell her niece, if she 
were awake, that her aunt Joanna was 
decidedly better. 

But when Miss Thomasine peeped into 
the room, which was but dimly lighted, 
she was astonished to find that Theodora 
was not there. She stepped inside and 
looked again. The bed was empty, as 
was also the lounge. The room was not 
large, and one could see at a glance that 
it was not occupied. 

Miss Thomasine felt a shock similar to 
the one which she had experienced when 
she was told that Joanna ‘Jiad one of 
her attacks.’’ Where could the child 
be? 

In the hall she met Miss Dorcas and 
Miss Melissa. 

^‘Theodora is not in her room,” she 
whispered. Where do you suppose she 
is, sisters? And what had we better do?” 

148 


J 



“ Miss Thomasine stepped inside and looked again.” 

[M9] 










The Middleton Bowl 


The three stood and looked at one 
another. Without their two ruling spir- 
its, Adaline and Joanna, whose words 
were always law, the three younger sis- 
ters felt much as if they were a ship de- 
prived of both captain and pilot in a 
stormy sea. 

They drew a step nearer to one 
another. 

^'Perhaps,” said Miss Melissa — 
^‘Perhaps — there ’s no knowing; she 
might do anything! — she went again — ’’ 

“Went where!” asked Miss Dorcas. 
“Do you mean on the — the — ” 

“Do you mean the bicycle!” asked 
]\riss Thomasine, courageously uttering 
the obnoxious word. 

Miss Melissa nodded. 

‘ ^ Oh, it could not be ! ” said Miss Dor- 
cas. 

“Certainly not!” exclaimed Miss 
151 


The Middleton Bo^Yl 


Thomasine. ' ‘ The child is somewhere in 
the house, and we must look for her. ’ ’ 

They investigated the rooms on the 
second floor with no success, and then 
they descended the broad stairs, one be- 
hind the other, each clad in a flowered 
dressing-gown and enveloped in a 
worsted shawl, and each one carrying a 
lighted candle in a tall silver candle- 
stick. 

Over their heads, shorn of the addi- 
tional braids which adorned them by day, 
and in no state to be seen by the doctor 
or even by the servants, each sister had 
tied a white knit cloud.” Even Miss 
Melissa, when she removed her bonnet 
after her futile attempt to summon the 
doctor, had again adjusted her cloud. 

And now they crept down their own 
staircase feeling strangely ill at ease. 
Never before had they been down-stairs 
152 


The Middleton Bowl 


at this hour and in this costume, but 
Theodora must be found. 

The parlor door stood open at the foot 
of the stairs. It was dark there now, 
for the moon had set and it was not yet 
dawn. The three ladies gathered at the 
threshold, and holding their candles on 
high, peered into the room. There, on 
the sofa, lay Theodora, one arm hanging 
over the side, the other tossed above her 
head. As her aunts drew nearer she 
moved a little, and murmured in her 
sleep : ‘ ‘ Of course I believe you. It ’s 
dreadful not to be believed.’’ 

Then the gleam of the three candles 
shone full in her face and she awakened, 
her eyes blinking in the light. 

‘ AVhy, what is it?” she cried, starting 
up in terror and gazing at the three odd 
figures. ‘AVhere am I, and who are 
you? Who are you, I say?” 

153 


The Middleton Bowl 


dear Teddy,’’ said Miss Thom- 
asine, ^^do not be alarmed! Do you not 
know us ! ” 

^‘Wliy, it ’s Aunt Tom,” said tlieir 
niece, wonderingly, ^^and Aunt Dorcas 
and Aunt Melissa. You don’t know how 
funny you look! Have you been out to 
walk?” 

Out to walk!” repeated Miss Dorcas 
severely. ‘‘Do you know that it is the 
middle of the night?” 

“Is it, really? Then how did I get 
here? Oh, I remember! Aunt Joanna was 
ill, and I went on Arthur’s wheel, and 
then I came down here and found Andy 
Morse. OJi, it has been such an excit- 
ing night! I gave him something to eat 
in the kitchen. I hope you won’t mind, 
but he was so hungry. And he has 
promised to be good after this.” 

The three aunts looked at one another 
154 


The Middleton Bowl 


and then at Teddy’s flushed face. Miss 

Thoinasine felt her pulse and asked to 
/ 

see her tongue. 

‘^You have been dreaming, I suppose. 
Come up-stairs and go to bed, my dear.” 

‘‘But I did n’t dream that. Aunt Tom. 
Andy Morse was really here, and I gave 
him some money to go away with. I had 
some in my bank, you know, so I could do 
what I liked with it.” 

“She grows more and more incoher- 
ent,” said Miss Dorcas. 

“I think, sisters,” murmured Miss 
Melissa, “that — that — it would be as 
well — the doctor right here — ” 

“I agree with you,” said Miss 
Thoinasine; “she most certainly is not 
well, and the doctor had better see her. 
Teddy, dear, come up-stairs. Lean on 
me if you feel at all giddy.” 

“I ’m not a bit giddy,” cried Theo- 

155 


The Middleton Bowl 


dora, springing to her feet, ^‘and I 
don’t know what you are talking about. 
Why must I see the doctor! I am not 
sick, and oh, I do want to tell you about 
Andy Morse ! ’ ’ 

Again the sisters looked significantly 
at one another. Then Miss Thomasine 
took one of Teddy’s hands and Miss Dor- 
cas possessed herself of the other, while 
Miss Melissa walked in front with two 
of the candles. 

‘‘We must get her to bed as quietly 
as i^ossible,” said Miss Thomasine. 
“Oh, what a night this has been!” 

“I was sure that ride would be too 
much for her,” said Miss Dorcas. 

“Is it — do you think it can be? I 
have heard of it — brain fever!” whis- 
pered Miss Melissa, turning in affright. 

“What do you all mean!” exclaimed 
Teddy, wrenching her hands away from 
156 


The Middleton Bowl 


her aunts. “I tell you I hii not a bit 
sick, and I do wish you would let me 
go up-stairs alone ! And I don T see why 
you won’t believe what I say. Are you 
never going to believe me again? I wish 
you would let me tell you about Andy 
Morse. He hid behind the big sofa, and 
I heard him there, and asked him to come 
out. Do you know, that poor boy had n ’t 
had a thing to eat for two days! Just 
think of it ! And he was so desperate he 
came here to steal something. I don’t 
wonder — do you?” 

The sisters had again looked at one 
another meaningly, and during this 
speech Miss Dorcas had left the room. 
Presently she returned with the doctor. 

^ ‘ What ’s all this ? ” he asked. ‘ ‘ Teddy 
ill, after saving her aunt’s life, as she 
did? She doesn’t look very ill.” 

^^Of course I ’m not ill. Dr. Morton. 

157 


The Middleton Bowl 


They wonT believe me when I say that 
Andy Morse was hiding here and I gave 
him something to eat and the money out 
of my bank. If you go into the kitchen 
you will see the plates and things on the 
table, and if you go up to my room you 
will see the empty bank. I do wish my 
father and mother were here!’’ she 
added. ’m just tired of not being be- 
lieved.” 

The doctor felt her pulse and looked 
at her. 

‘‘I believe you, my child,” he said. 
^‘You are as well as I am, and I have no 
doubt Andy Morse was here. He is 
quite capable of anything. I am sorry 
you gave him your money, for he does n’t 
deserve it, but I quite believe you.” 

Theodora glanced at him gratefully, 
and from that moment she considered 
Dr. Morton one of her best friends. He 
158 


The Middleton Bowl 


asked her more particularly about the 
occurrences of the night, and she gave 
him a detailed history of it from the time 
when she returned from her ride. 

^^Well, well,’’ he said, when he heard 
how she had stood in the moonlight and 
invited the intruder to come forth — 
well, well ! you ’re the girl for my mind. 
And didn’t you feel afraid!” 

‘^Why, yes, I suppose I was afraid,” 
said she. ‘‘But there was nothing else 
to be done that I could think of, and so 
I had to do it. ’ ’ 

At which the doctor chuckled more ap- 
preciatively than ever. 

Miss Joanna was much better in the 
morning, and in a few days was quite 
convalescent. The sisters were all more 
or less prostrated by this thrilling night, 
and it was a week before the household 
affairs were running with their accus- 
159 


The Middleton Bowl 


tomed smoothness, and before the Misses 
Middleton could turn their thoughts and 
their conversation to the ordinary con- 
cerns of life. 

A new idea and a very startling one 
had been presented to them, too. Dr. 
Morton, upon each of his visits to Miss 
Joanna, had made some remark upon 
Theodora’s courage, upon her presence 
of mind, upon her general excellence. 
He declared that she, and she alone, had 
been the means of saving her aunt’s life, 
and in his opinion she should be re- 
warded not only for that, but for having 
prevented a bold and startling robbery. 

Undoubtedly Andy Morse, if left to 
himself, would have carried away the 
greater part of the Misses Middleton’s 
treasures. According to Dr. Morton, if 
it had not been for Teddy, her aunts, 
when they descended in the morning, 
160 


The Middleton Bowl 


would have found their large drawing- 
room absolutely bare and empty. The 
girl should certainly he rewarded, and 
no better token of her aunts’ gratitude 
and regard could be found than a bicycle. 
Not only would it give her pleasure, but 
it would also be of benefit to her health. 

Never before did Dr. Morton discourse 
so long and so earnestly, and the result 
was that he gained his point. The la- 
dies held out as long as they could, hut 
he was too much for them. 

As Miss Joanna remarked, ^‘When we 
feel that Theodora really did us such a 
service, it seems as if we should waive 
our prejudices.” 

And for Miss Joanna to acknowledge 
this, and to call ‘^prejudices” the feel- 
ings which had hitherto been designated 
as “principles” meant a great deal. 
Miss Thomasine had from the first been 

11 — The Middleton Bowl. ^ 0 ^ 


The Middleton Bowl 


in favor of buying the wheel, and had 
strongly urged it; but not until Miss 
Joanna thus expressed herself did Miss 
Middleton actually give her consent. 

John, the old coachman, now fortu- 
nately recovered from his attack of 
rheumatism, could scarcely believe his 
ears when Miss Middleton ordered him 
to drive to the large bicycle-shop on 
Main Street. 

The carriage with its four occupants 
reached the shop in due time, and the 
ladies entered. They looked about in 
some bewilderment at the vast number 
of bicycles that were stacked in the place, 
and the thought that they could all whirl, 
as wheels will, made them positively 
dizzy. Miss Melissa was glad that she 
had brought her salts, and she held them 
first to one nostril, then to the other. 

^‘What can I do for you, ladies?” 

162 


The Middleton Bowl 


asked the salesman, as he came forward. 

wish to look at bi-cy-cles,” said 
Miss Middleton, wondering if it could be 
really she who was making this request, 
and wishing more than ever that Miss 
Joanna were there to take the lead. 

^‘Ah, indeed! Something for your- 
selves, no doubt r’ 

^‘Not by any means,” said Miss Mid- 
dleton, coldly, and with all the ‘ ‘ Middle- 
ton manner” that she could summon to 
her aid. ‘‘We are about to purchase a 
bi-cy-cle for our niece.” 

“Oh, certainly! I didn’t see her at 
first. So many ladies do ride, that I 
thought — However, here is one that I am 
sure your niece will like — light weight, 
not more than twenty pounds ; improved 
chain and skirt guards; made in such a 
way that there is a minimum degree of 
weight with a maximum amount of safe- 
163 


The Middleton Bowl 


tv; small, narrow sweep of handle-bar; 
latest invention in pedals ; small adjust- 
able saddle — ^most comfortable that is 
made — though if your niece prefers one 
of the new hygienic saddles, that can 
easily be arranged; bell, brake, lantern, 
and cyclometer thrown in if you pay cash 
down, together with a full supply of ce- 
ment, patches, plugs, twine, and needle 
for a punctured tire, also oil-can, pump, 
and wrench. Or, if you don’t fancy this 
model, here is another — twenty-one 
pounds, self-mending tires in case of 
punctures — ” 

'^Oh, please stop a moment!” cried 
Miss Middleton. ‘‘My dear sisters, I 
scarcely know what to think. If only 
Joanna were here! I never dreamed that 
there were so many accessories to a bi- 
cy-cle. It seems as if we were getting a 
great deal for the money.” 

164 


The Middleton Bowl 


‘‘A great deal, madam, I do assure 
you, and at the same time very light 
weight. To be sure, the tendency this 
year is to make heavier machines, but 
this being a miss’s wheel, it is absolutely 
strong, while being at the same time ex- 
ceedingly light. Just lift it yourself, 
madam, and you will see. ’ ’ 

And before she realized what she was 
doing, Miss Middleton had laid aside her 
little satchel and her sunshade, and was 
actually lifting a bicycle. Each sister in 
turn, not to be outdone, went through the 
same form. 

One wheel after another was brought 
forward, and each one seemed to pos- 
sess more virtues than its predecessor. 
The three Misses Middleton grew more 
and more bewildered, while Theodora 
began to think that the matter would 
never be settled. She had no oppor- 
165 


The Middleton Bowl 


tunity for stating her preference, if she 
had any, for her aunts appeared to think 
that she knew nothing at all on the sub- 
ject. 

Their interest increased with their be- 
wilderment, and they soon found them- 
selves conversing with ease about gear 
and ball-bearings, and the salesman did 
not allow himself even to smile when 
Miss Thomasine examined the chain- 
guard, and said it seemed like an excel- 
lent brake. He had begun to hope that 
he might dispose of four wheels instead 
of one, so enthusiastic were his cus- 
tomers becoming. 

So it might have gone on for some 
time longer, and there is no knowing 
what might have transpired, had not 
Paul Hoyt, greatly to Teddy’s relief, ap- 
peared in the doorway. He had heard 
rumors of the intended purchase, and he 
166 


The Middleton Bowl 


had at once mounted his own wheel and 
ridden in search of his neighbors, know- 
ing that it would be an entertaining sight 
to say the least, and thinking that he 
might find an opportunity for giving his 
opinion and lending the weight of his 
experience. 

The Misses Middleton paid more at- 
tention to him than they did to Theo- 
dora, and at last a wheel was chosen and 
paid for, and the three ladies, with their 
niece, left the shop. 

They drove away still full of their sub- 
ject, and when the new bicycle came home 
it was brought directly to them. The 
three Misses Middleton who had made 
the purchase explained to the two who 
were still in ignorance of its merits the 
great advantages which this bi-cy-cle 
possessed over every other make of ma- 
chine, while Teddy looked on, wondering 
167 


The Middleton Bowl 


when the happy moment would arrive 
that she could take the beloved object and 
go forth for a ride upon her own, own 
wheel. Indeed she could scarcely ex- 
press her gratitude to her aunts, so en- 
grossed were they in all the technicalities 
of the subject. 

About ten days after this, Mrs. Hoyt^ 
accompanied by Arthur, called upon the 
Misses Middleton. The ladies came 
down to the drawing-room and greeted 
their guests with their usual formal 
courtesy. There was a moment’s pause 
after all had seated themselves, and then 
Mrs. Hoyt began the conversation. 

have come,” she said, ^Ho speak 
once more on the subject of the bowl. 
Have you found yet any clew to the per- 
son who broke it ? ” 

^^No,” said Miss Middleton, ^‘we have 
not.” 


168 


The Middleton Bowl 


^‘But we still have our suspicions/’ in- 
terposed Miss Joanna. 

‘ ‘ And what are they ! ’ ’ 

^AVe did think that it was either x\r- 
thur or Theodora. Now we are con- 
vinced that it was Arthur, and that our 
niece, from a mistaken feeling of honor, 
helped him to hide it. Nothing can 
change us in this opinion.” 

have come to tell you,” said Mrs. 
Hoyt, quietly but with great firmness, 
‘ ‘ that Mr. Hoyt and I are perfectly con- 
vinced that Arthur did not do it. The 
evidence is very strong against him, we 
admit, but he has always been a truthful 
boy, and we feel very sure that he is so 
still. The child has been made so un- 
happy by the affair that I felt it neces- 
sary to bring him here, and let him hear 
me tell you that his father and I do not 
think he did it.” 


169 


The Middleton Bowl 


She rose to go in the pause that fol- 
lowed this speech. The sisters were 
silent until they also had risen, and then 
Miss Joanna spoke. 

^ ^ Our opinion is unchanged, ’ ’ said she, 
^ ^ and always will be. ’ ’ 

At this moment the parlor door flew 
open and Theodora ran into the room. 

have just met the postman,’^ she 
cried, ^ ‘ and he gave me this letter ! Look 
at it!’’ and she held it up for her aunts’ 
inspection. 

The envelope was exceedingly soiled, 
and the stamp was placed upside down 
on the lower left-hand corner. It was 
addressed to ^‘miss tedy middleton.” 

‘Mt is from Andy Morse,” she contim 
ued; ‘^and — oh, Arthur, he tells it all!” 
And this was what she read aloud : 

^miss tedy middleton, dear miss. 

^ ‘ 4 Eite you theese few lines Hopping 
170 


The Middleton Bowl 


tliay will find you in Good lieltli i want 
too tell you ive got work ime goin on a 
Ship i wont make mutch yet butt its 
Better nor nothin and i Hopp ile make 
more soon its all Bekorse you gave me 
That Monny and sum day ime goin to 
pay it Back. 

‘And i want to tell you i broke that 
bole.’ ” (Teddy paused in the reading 
and looked about upon her audience. 
Her five aunts sank into their chairs, and 
Miss Melissa vigorously applied her 
salts, while, much to Arthur’s amaze- 
ment, his mother began to cry. Teddy 
continued.) “ ‘i was that Mad the day 
you give me the Black i that i ran to 
your house and the dore was open and 
i went in and sore the bole and i herd of 
that bole and that hoite Boy was in the 
parler and i skeered him most to deth 
and i asked him if that was the middleton 


171 


The Middleton Bowl 


bole and lie said yes and i smashed it 
and made him promise not to tell on me 
and if he did ide kill him i fritened him 
orful bad and i have ever since. 

‘‘4 was going to tell you about it that 
nite i was thare only you Was so good 
to me i diddent Like to and you sed it 
Cost so mutch i was afraid, butt i re- 
member you sed tliay Thort you did it 
and you beleeved me wen i sed i was 
going to be onnest so thats the Keeson 
ive rote this. 

yours truly andy morse 
Hhay cant ketch me About the bole 
bekorse ile be to see wen you read this.’ ” 

When Teddy had finished the letter, 
Miss Joanna settled her spectacles more 
firmly upon her aristocratic, aquiline 
nose. Then she held out her hand for 
the paper, which she took and examined 
with care. It was passed from one sis- 
172 


The Middleton BoayI 


ter to another as they sat in an impres- 
sive silence, which was broken as usual 
by Miss Joanna. 

She rose from her chair, and going to 
Mrs. Hoyt, she took her by the hand. 

^‘We beg your pardon, Ellen Hoyt,’’ 
said she, '^and we beg your son’s par- 
don. He is a truthful boy, after all, as 
Theodora is a truthful girl. Is it not so, 
sisters!” 

‘Ht is indeed so,” replied they all, as 
they also rose and gathered about their 
guests. 

Thus Arthur was at last cleared from 
suspicion and relieved from the state of 
dread and anxiety in which he had lived 
since the accident, for Morse had not 
only threatened him at the time, should 
he give any information as to what he 
had done, but had constantly found 
means since then of frightening the boy, 
173 


1288 U IbO 


Tlie Middleton Bowl 


which accounted for his nervous condi- 
tion. 

And the Misses Middleton were at last 
convinced that neither Arthur nor Theo- 
dora had broken the Middleton howl. 


174 




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